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Sofia (AFP) – A TV journalist was raped and murdered in Ruse, a city in northern Bulgaria, prosecutors and a minister said Sunday in a case that shocked their colleagues and sparked condemnation from the international community.
The body of Viktoria Marinova, aged 30, was found Saturday near a jogging path along the Danube River, said the Dodge Prosecutor Georgy Georgiev.
The death was caused by blows to the head and suffocation and probably occurred in broad daylight, he added.
"His mobile phone, his car keys, his glasses and some of his clothes were gone," said Georgiev, adding that the prosecutors were examining all the tracks, both personal and related to the work of Marinova.
Interior Minister Mladen Marinov later confirmed to journalists that the victim had also been raped.
Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said that a large amount of evidence had been collected, adding that "it is only a matter of time before the author is found."
Police sources told AFP that the crime did not seem immediately related to his work.
Harlem Desir, representative of press freedom at the OSCE, immediately condemned the international scene and wrote on Twitter: "Shocked by the horrific assassination of investigative journalist Victoria Marinova at # Bulgaria: Urgent appeals for thorough and thorough investigation, alleged perpetrators must be held accountable ".
The Committee for the Protection of Journalists has been declared "shocked by the barbarous murder".
"The Bulgarian authorities must make every effort and resources to conduct a full investigation and bring those responsible to justice," said Tom Gibson, CPJ representative to the Council of the European Union, in a statement.
– & # 39; An extreme sense of justice & # 39; –
Marinova presented a current discussion program called "Detector" for Ruse 's small private TV, TVN. The program has recently been relaunched.
The first episode of the September 30 broadcast aired interviews with investigative journalists Dimitar Stoyanov of the Bivol.bg website and Attila Biro of the Romanian Rise Project project, about an investigation into an alleged fraud involving European funds linked to businessmen and politicians.
The two men were briefly arrested by the police as they tried to stop the destruction of documents related to the project. They were sentenced by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
"We are in shock, and in no way, in any way, have we ever received any threats – against him or on TV," a TVN journalist under the seal told AFP. anonymity, adding that his colleagues and he feared for their fate. security.
He described his colleague as "extremely disciplined, ambitious, always fully committed to what she does and a person with an extreme sense of justice."
The owner of Bivol.bg, Asen Yordanov, however, told AFP that his media had received credible information that their journalists were at risk of being attacked because of the investigation also published in the press. Issue of Marinova.
"Viktoria's death, the brutal way in which she was killed, is an execution, which was meant to serve as an example, a bit like a warning," Yordanov added.
Bulgaria dropped to 111th place in RSF's annual annual press freedom ranking in 2018 – the lowest among the EU member states.
According to RSF, widespread corruption, dubious media ownership and alleged collusion between journalists, politicians and oligarchs have made objective reporting a lifeline for the fighter.
According to the Bulgarian-based Association of European Journalists, local and regional news reporters are particularly subject to pressure from local businessmen and politicians, as well as direct threats, often leading to self-censorship.
Violence against women is also widespread in Bulgaria, with a number of brutal murders of women by their ex-boyfriends and ex-husbands having recently provoked an uproar in the media.
Condolences have swept over Facebook for Marinova who leaves behind a small child. A candlelight vigil in his memory will take place Monday night in Ruse and in the capital Sofia.
