Swimmers mark the one-year anniversary of journalist’s imprisonment with Brighton Beach plunge.
Photo by Erica Price
Friends, family and supporters of Evan Gershkovich — the reporter detained in Russia last March — gathered together to mark the one-year anniversary of his wrongful imprisonment with an event in Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach and at a beach of the same name overseas.
The event, called “Swim for Evan,” was held on March 23 with Gershkovich’s colleagues from the Wall Street Journal and friends taking a plunge in the icy water in his honor.
Gershkovich was arrested while reporting in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, accused by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) of espionage. Despite Gershkovich, his employer and the United States government all fervently denying he is a spy, Russia on Tuesday announced it had extended the reporter’s detention to June 30 of this year on what advocates say are entirely baseless charges.
“This verdict to further prolong Evan’s detention feels particularly painful, as this week marks one year since Evan was arrested and wrongfully detained in Ekaterinburg simply for doing his job as a journalist,” Lynne Tracy, US ambassador to Russia, said on Tuesday. “Evan’s case is not about evidence, due process, or rule of law. It is about using American citizens as pawns to achieve political ends, as the Kremlin is also doing in the case of Paul Whelan.”
On Brighton Beach on Saturday, Gershkovich’s supporters braved the cold weather to advocate for their friend.
“Did my first ‘polar plunge’ off Brighton Beach today in the worst weather possible!” Gershkovich’s colleague and Wall Street Journal publishing editor Ginnie Teo posted on Facebook. “Rain, mist, [a] real feel of [30 degrees Fahrenheit], it was freezing! WSJ colleagues and friends of reporter Evan Gershkovich took the plunge with a Swim for Evan event to mark the one-year anniversary of Evan’s…
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