‘Journalism is not a crime’
Many journalists who said they knew Gershkovich expressed their shock over his arrest, writing on Twitter that he is well-respected in the field.
“Our best friend and completely professional journalist Evan Gershkovich has been detained in Russia for doing his job and must be released immediately,” wrote Polina Ivanova, a correspondent with the Financial Times. “Journalism is not a crime. The allegations are ridiculous.”
Joshua Yaffa, a reporter for The New Yorker, praised Gershkovich for continuing to report on Russia during its invasion of Ukraine and said the allegations against him are “obviously false.”
“News that my friend, colleague, and thoroughly professional reporter @evangershkovich has been detained while doing his job in Russia. Hope and trust he’ll be released imminently. Goes w/out saying, journalism is not a crime,” Yaffa wrote.
Washington Post reporter Robyn Dixon said she knows and “admires” Gershkovich and called him a “highly respected, excellent journalist.”
Journalist and author Leonid Ragozin said in a tweet, “I know @evangershkovich personally and he is very obviously not a spy, but a very good journalist. The Kremlin has taken him hostage.”
Gershkovich was born in the U.S. to Russian-speaking parents. His mother and father are from the former Soviet Union and fled in the 1980s.
His family could not be immediately reached at phone numbers listed for them.
Early life in New Jersey
Gershkovich grew up in Princeton in central New Jersey and went to Princeton High School, where he dominated in soccer, earning four varsity letters, according to his bio on Bowdoin College’s athletic page.
In 2007, he helped lead his club soccer team to the Region I Semifinals and the New Jersey State Championship.
Wayne Sutcliffe, a physical education teacher at Princeton High School and head soccer coach, recalled how Gershkovich was a leader on the team.
“I knew Evan Gershkovich well. He was captain of the Princeton High School 2009…
Read the full article here