Bulgarian journalist brutally raped and murdered for investigating EU corruption?
In an incident that has sparked international condemnation, a Bulgarian TV journalist was found brutally raped and murdered in a park at Ruse on Saturday. Mladen Marinov, Bulgaria's Interior Minister, described the murder of 30-year-old Viktoria Marinova, as "exceptionally brutal," as per the local news outlet. The journalist was reporting on alleged corruption linked to European Union funds. Here are the details.
"Marinova's death is a warning"
The motive behind the murder remains unknown, and authorities haven't yet linked her death to her work as a journalist. However, Asen Yordanov, of the investigative site Bivol.bg, said his team also faces the danger of assault. "Viktoria's death, the brutal manner in which she was killed, is an execution. It's meant to serve as an example, something like a warning," he said.
Large amount of DNA has been obtained, says Bulgarian PM
About possible leads, the local media reported yesterday that the park where Marinova was killed is located nearby a psychiatric facility and probe is on to find if her attacker was a patient of that facility. "The best criminologists have been sent to Ruse-let's not hurry them," Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said. "A large amount of DNA has been obtained," he asserted.
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe expresses shock
Her final broadcast: She had criticized about dangers journalists faced
Marinova, a model-turned-journalist, had presented the first episode of 'Detector', which focused on political investigations, on September 30. She had interviewed Dimitar Stoyanov from the Bivol.bg and Attila Biro from the Romanian Rise Project on their investigations into fraud around EU funds. In her final broadcast, she had criticized the "danger journalists face when reporting on matters of public interest."
Her last quote: Investigative journalists are being systematically removed
"Our team is committed to providing a platform for journalistic research exclusively on topics relevant to the public interest. The number of forbidden topics is growing all the time. Investigative journalists are being systematically removed," Marinova had said in her final broadcast.
Separately, two more investigative journalists killed in a year
Shockingly, Marinova is the third journalist murdered in the EU within the last year. Last October, Maltese investigative journalist and anti-corruption activist Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed by a car bomb near her home. She was working on the Panama Paper leaks. And in February, Slovakian journalist Jan Kuciak and his girlfriend Martina Kusnirova were shot dead. Kuciak was investigating tax fraud.
