Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 18, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba GENEROSITY COMES FULL CIRCLE TRANSIT EMPLOYEES COMMUNITY FUND CELEBRATES REACHING MAJOR MILESTONE, PROVIDES OUTREACH VAN FOR MAIN STREET PROJECT W O R K I N G T O G E T H E R | A M A G A Z I N E O F T H E W I N N I P E G F O U N D A T I O N | F A L L 2 0 2 4 A MAGAZINE OF THE WINNIPEG FOUNDATION FALL 2024 WORKING TOGETHER What’s happening in our charitable sector? Find out in the latest issue of The Winnipeg Foundation’s magazine! Scan the QR code below to read the full publication! Working Together A18 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM THREE lawyers for Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in an Arctic prison camp just under a year ago, were sentenced to prison Friday, highlighting the risks of having any ties to the opposition in Russia, even in a pro- fessional lawyer-client relationship. Vadim Kobzev, Igor Sergunin and Alexei Lipster were sentenced after be- ing convicted on extremism charges in Petushinsky District Court in the Vlad- imir region. Kobzev received 5 ½ years in prison; Liptser was given five years; and Ser- gunin, who pleaded guilty, received 3 ½ years. They were also barred from prac- ticing law for three years after their re- lease from prison. Navalny’s lead lawyer, Olga Mikh- ailova, was outside the country when po- lice arrested the others in October 2023, but her office was raided, and she was charged in absentia with extremism. Four journalists and one other person who attended the court hearing were de- tained by police before the sentencing, the Mediazona independent media outlet reported, but they were released later after their documents were recorded. Lipster told journalists after the sen- tencing, “What can you say? Everything is expected,” according to Mediazona. Kobzev thanked the dozens of journal- ists and supporters who attended. Other lawyers for Navalny or repre- senting Russian journalists and dis- sidents have been forced to flee the country to avoid arrest. They include another Navalny lawyer, Alexander Fedulov, who was charged in absentia with extremism, and Ivan Pavlov, one of Russia’s most prominent human rights lawyers, who is known for taking on sensitive political cases. He fled in 2021 to avoid arrest and was later charged in absentia with failing to comply with Russia’s foreign agents legislation. The three lawyers were accused of participating in an extremist commun- ity by passing Navalny’s writings and letters to his supporters outside prison. Prosecutors argued that because Naval- ny’s prison writings were published, he “continued to perform the functions of the leader and director of an extremist community.” The trial was closed to the media and public after Russia’s Centre for Com- bating Extremism, a wing of the Min- istry of Internal Affairs that largely combats political dissent, claimed to have intelligence that Navalny’s sup- porters were planning “provocations” both at the trial and nearby. The sen- tencing itself was accessible, but few journalists and members of the public were able to enter the small courtroom, according to Mediazona. Navalny, who was serving a 19-year sentence when he died, had faced mul- tiple cases including embezzlement, fraud, disrespecting a veteran, promo- ting extremism and promoting terror- ism. After his imprisonment, his trials were held inside prisons, with media corralled into a separate room to watch the case via video feeds with distorted sound and sudden cuts to the transmis- sion. After Navalny died on Feb. 16, 2024, at age 47, Yulia Navalnaya accused Russian authorities of murdering her husband. Russian prison authorities re- fused for days to release the body, and no independent forensic analysis could be carried out. Last February, Vasily Dubkov, the lawyer who represented Navalny’s mother, Lyudmila Navalnaya, in her struggle to recover his body from Rus- sian authorities, was also detained brief- ly in Moscow. Days later, thousands of Russians thronged to Navalny’s funeral, and al- though police barriers prevented his supporters from entering the church for the service, they left a mountain of flowers on his grave. In August last year, Yulia Navalnaya released a statement that she had been officially informed by Russian author- ities that her husband’s death was “not of a criminal character” but was caused by “a combined disease.” Navalnaya called the statement “a lie,” adding that the family’s lawyers had filed suit for examination and autopsy results, medic- al documents and video recordings from Navalny’s cell, the exercise yard and the prison’s medical department. The infor- mation was denied, she said. — The Washington Post WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Fri- day unanimously upheld the federal law banning TikTok beginning Sunday unless it’s sold by its China-based parent company, holding that the risk to national security posed by its ties to China overcomes concerns about limiting speech by the app or its 170 million users in the United States. A sale does not appear imminent and, although experts have said the app will not disappear from existing users’ phones once the law takes effect, new users won’t be able to download it and up- dates won’t be available. That will eventually ren- der the app unworkable, the Justice Department has said in court filings. The decision came against the backdrop of un- usual political agitation by president-elect Don- ald Trump, who vowed that he could negotiate a solution, and the administration of President Joe Biden, which has signalled it won’t enforce the law — which was passed with overwhelming bi- partisan support — beginning Sunday, his final full day in office. “TikTok should remain available to Americans, but simply under American ownership or other ownership that addresses the national security concerns identified by Congress in developing this law,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement, noting that actions to implement the law will fall to the new administration. Trump, mindful of TikTok’s popularity and his own 14.7 million followers on the app, finds him- self on the opposite side of the argument from prominent Senate Republicans who fault TikTok’s Chinese owner for not finding a buyer before now. Trump said in a Truth Social post shortly before the decision was issued that TikTok was among the topics in his conversation Friday with Chi- nese leader Xi Jinping. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, who is expected to attend Trump’s inauguration, used the app to thank the incoming president for “his commit- ment to work with us to keep TikTok available.” It’s unclear what options are open to Trump, a Republican, once he is sworn in as president on Monday. The law allowed for a 90-day pause in the restrictions on the app if there had been progress toward a sale before it took effect. So- licitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, who defended the law at the Supreme Court for the Democratic Biden administration, told the justices last week that it’s uncertain whether the prospect of a sale once the law is in effect could trigger a 90-day respite for TikTok. The decision explores the intersection of the First Amendment and national security concerns in the fast-changing realm of social media, and the justices acknowledged in their opinion that the new terrain has been difficult to navigate given they know relatively little about it. “Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok’s data col- lection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary,” the court said in an unsigned opinion, adding that the law “does not violate petitioners’ First Amendment rights.” Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Neil Gorsuch filed short separate opinions noting some reser- vations about the court’s decision but going along with the outcome. At arguments, the justices were told by a law- yer for TikTok and ByteDance Ltd., the Chinese technology company that is its parent, how diffi- cult it would be to consummate a deal, especially since Chinese law restricts the sale of the propri- etary algorithm that has made the social media platform wildly successful. Biden signed the legislation into law in April. — The Associated Press J ERUSALEM — Israel’s cabinet ap- proved a deal early Saturday for a ceasefire in Gaza that would release dozens of hostages held there and pause the 15-month war with Hamas, bring- ing the sides a step closer to ending their deadliest and most destructive fighting ever. The government announced the ap- proval after 1 a.m. Jerusalem time and confirmed the ceasefire will go into ef- fect on Sunday. The hourslong Cabinet meeting went well past the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath, a sign of the moment’s importance. In line with Jew- ish law, the Israeli government usually halts all business for the Sabbath except in emergency cases of life or death. Mediators Qatar and the United States announced the ceasefire on Wednesday, but the deal was in limbo for more than a day as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted there were last-minute complications that he blamed on the Hamas militant group. On Friday, the smaller security cabinet recommended approving the deal. Key questions remain about the ceasefire — the second achieved dur- ing the war — including the names of the 33 hostages who are to be released during the first, six-week phase and who among them is still alive. Netanyahu instructed a special task force to prepare to receive the hos- tages. The 33 are women, children, men over 50 and sick or wounded people. Hamas has agreed to free three female hostages on Day 1 of the deal, four on Day 7 and the remaining 26 over the following five weeks. Palestinian detainees are to be re- leased as well. Israel’s justice ministry published a list of 700 to be freed in the deal’s first phase and said the release will not begin before 4 p.m. local time Sunday. All people on the list are young- er or female. Israel’s Prison Services said it will transport the prisoners instead of the International Committee of the Red Cross, which handled transportation during the first ceasefire, to avoid “public expressions of joy.” The prison- ers have been accused of crimes like in- citement, vandalism, supporting terror, terror activities, attempted murder or throwing stones or Molotov cocktails. The largely devastated Gaza should see a surge in humanitarian aid. Trucks carrying aid lined up Friday on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing into Gaza. An Egyptian official said an Israeli delegation from the military and Is- rael’s Shin Bet internal security agency arrived Friday in Cairo to discuss the reopening of the crossing. An Israeli official confirmed a delegation was go- ing to Cairo. Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private nego- tiations. Israeli forces will also pull back from many areas in Gaza during the first phase of the ceasefire and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians will be able to return to what’s left of their homes. “Once Sunday comes around, we would be happier, God willing,” one of Gaza’s displaced people, Ekhlas al-Ka- farna, said during the wait for word on the Israeli Cabinet decision. Israel’s military said that as its forces gradually withdraw from specific lo- cations and routes in Gaza, residents will not be allowed to return to areas where troops are present or near the Israel-Gaza border, and any threat to Israeli forces “will be met with a force- ful response.” Ceasefire talks had stalled repeated- ly in previous months. But Israel and Hamas had been under growing pres- sure from both the Biden administra- tion and president-elect Donald Trump to reach a deal before Trump takes of- fice on Monday. Hamas triggered the war with its Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border attack into Israel that killed some 1,200 people and left some 250 others captive. Nearly 100 hostages remain in Gaza. Israel responded with a devastating offensive that has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and militants but say women and children make up more than half the dead. Fighting continued into Friday, and Gaza’s Health Ministry said 88 bodies had arrived at hospitals in the past 24 hours. In previous conflicts, both sides stepped up military operations in the final hours before ceasefires as a way to project strength. The second — and much more diffi- cult — phase of the ceasefire is meant to be negotiated during the first. The remainder of the hostages, including male soldiers, are to be released during this phase. But Hamas has said it will not release the remaining captives without a last- ing ceasefire and a full Israeli with- drawal, while Israel has vowed to keep fighting until it dismantles the group and to maintain open-ended security control over the territory. Longer-term questions about postwar Gaza remain, including who will rule the territory or oversee the daunting task of reconstruction. The conflict has destabilized the Middle East and sparked worldwide protests. It also highlighted political tensions inside Israel, drawing fierce resistance from Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners. On Thursday, Israel’s hard-line na- tional security minister, Itamar Ben- Gvir, threatened to quit the government if Israel approved the ceasefire. He re- iterated that Friday, writing on social media platform X: “If the ‘deal’ passes, we will leave the government with a heavy heart.” There was no immediate sign early today that he had done so. Ben-Gvir’s resignation would not bring down the government or derail the ceasefire deal, but the move would destabilize the government at a delicate moment and could eventually lead to its collapse if Ben-Gvir were joined by other key Netanyahu allies. — The Associated Press NEWS I WORLD SATURDAY, JANUARY 18, 2025 MAHMOUD ILLEAN / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A woman walks past photos of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, in Jerusalem, Friday,. Israel’s cabinet approves Gaza ceasefire deal Key questions remain as six-week pause in war with Hamas to start Sunday SAMY MAGDY, WAFAA SHURAFA AND JOSEF FEDERMAN U.S. Supreme Court backs law banning TikTok if it’s not sold by Chinese parent company MARK SHERMAN Russia sentences lawyers of late opposition figure Navalny to prison ROBYN DIXON ;