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By Tsvetelia Tsolova and Angel Krasimirov
RUSE, Bulgaria (Reuters) – The European Commission on Monday urged Bulgaria to conduct a swift investigation into the murder of journalist Viktoria Marinova while mourners were holding vigils near her home town.
Prosecutors said the 30-year-old was raped, beaten and suffocated. Marinova's body was found Saturday in a park near the Danube at Ruse.
"There is no democracy without a free press (…) We expect a quick and thorough investigation to bring those responsible to justice," said the European Commission in a statement issued by the European Commission. executive of the European Union.
Bulgaria ranks 111th out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index, which is less than any other member of the EU.
In its latest TV show, which ran on September 30, Marinova introduced two journalists who were investigating corruption charges involving European funds. She said that the regional news show "Detector" would make similar inquiries.
The European Anti-Fraud Office, OLAF, declined to comment on the murder. His press service, however, said he was "aware of allegations of misuse of EU funds in Bulgaria allegedly revealed by journalists in recent weeks".
This appearance was his first participation in the television channel TVN, based in Ruse, a popular channel in northeastern Bulgaria. Previously, she was best known for presenting a regional show about lifestyle and was not a nationally known name.
The Minister of the Interior, Mladen Marinov, said that there was until now no evidence of a connection between the work of Marinova as a journalist and the police and the prosecutors echoed it.
"We are working on all possible motives and we are not excluding any," Marinov told reporters on Monday in Ruse, Bulgaria's main river port.
He pointed out that no match had been found for a DNA sample taken so far from the crime scene, located near a psychiatric clinic.
Police and prosecutors said they were working on three possible grounds: that Marinova be the victim of a random assault committed by a person with mental disorders, a planned attack or that the 39, an offense related to his personal life.
"We do not rule out that it is a random attack, nor a premeditated attempt against his life," said the chief prosecutor, Sotir Tsatsarov, to the press.
Marinova would be the third journalist murdered in the European Union in the last 12 months.
Daphne Caruana Galizia, the most well known investigative journalist from Malta, was killed by the explosion of a bomb car in October 2011 and the Slovakian journalist Jan Kuciak was shot dead in February.
Vigils for Marinova, mother of a seven-year-old girl, were planned at Ruse and in the towns of northern Vidin and Pleven, as well as in the capital Sofia.
The TVN channel expressed surprise at the murder of its colleague and board member, but declined to comment further, saying it would give investigators time to do their work first. The channel was to pay tribute to him on Monday.
Reporters Without Borders said other TVN journalists should enjoy police protection during the investigation. The Committee for the Protection of Journalists has been declared "shocked by the barbarous murder".
(Additional report by Francesco Guarascio in Brussels, written by Krisztina Than, edited by Alison Williams)
