Journalist Found Murdered In Bulgaria
Viktoria Marinova was a Bulgarian journalist who investigated corruption and fraud in the European Union. She had a current affairs TV program called The Detector at The TVN Channel. Her latest investigation involved the alleged corruption of EU funds. Two other journalists working on the story were arrested in September while investigating this case, which led to speculation that Viktoria Marinova’s death was in response to her latest story. She is the 3rd high profile journalist killed this year in the EU.
On October 10th Severin Krasimirov was arrested in Germany in connection to the murder due to his DNA matching the evidence found at the crime scene. Krasimirov stated that he was drunk and on drugs and while jogging at the park he got into an argument with Marinova and hit her on the head and threw her into the bushes before he blacked out. He denies robbing and raping her.
Bulgarian authorities say there is no evidence to suggest that Marinova’s murder is connected to her work as an anti-corruption journalist and that this was just a spontaneous attack. That being said, MUCH suspicion still remains. Asen Yordanov, the owner of an investigative website that was featured on Marinova’s program said that he received credible information that his journalists were in danger and said, “Viktoria’s death, the brutal manner in which she was killed, is an execution. It was meant to serve as an example, something like a warning.”
Press freedom in Bulgaria is limited to say the least. Journalist are routinely harassed and mistreated. In October 2017 journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed in a car bomb in Malta and in Febuary 2018 Jan Kuciak and his fiancée were shot dead Slovakia. These deaths have caused international debate about press freedoms.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45808619
https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/08/europe/bulgaria-journalist-murder-intl/index.html