Journalists swam in solidarity at Brighton beaches around the world on Saturday to mark a year since Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was jailed.
Mr Gershkovich was arrested on March 29 last year on a reporting trip in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg.
He remains in prison in Moscow, charged with espionage.
Mr Gershkovich has been designated by the United States as wrongfully detained. Last month a court in Moscow extended his detention to the end of this month.
Otago Daily Times journalists took a dip at Brighton Beach, kicking off the series of 10 global swims held at Brighton beaches in tribute to Mr Gershkovich’s love of the Brighton beaches in England and in Brooklyn, New York, highlighting the injustice.
Journalism was "doing it tough" in many parts of the world and Russia was a difficult place to be a journalist.
"As a result of Mr Gershkovich’s imprisonment a lot of Western journalists have left Russia.
"We in New Zealand have an amazing freedom to practise journalism here and so supporting Evan is part of supporting that effort here and standing up for journalists everywhere."
No-one wanted to be in a prison from Stalin-era Russia where conditions were likely to be "pretty grim" and Mr Gershkovich needed to freed, Mr McKinlay said.
"We’ve come out here, members of the Otago Daily Times in Dunedin, to support that and bring some focus to his plight in the hope that perhaps he will get out. That’s the hope."
