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World|life|October 10, 2018 / 09:48 AM
Journalist's murder shocks Bulgaria

AKIPRESS.COM - The 30-year-old journalist Viktoria Marinova disappeared after going for a run by the river on Saturday and her body was found later that day. Bulgarian police confirmed she had been raped before she was killed, The Guardianreported.

Authorities have said they are investigating all possibilities but say they are cautious about linking the murder to Marinova’s journalism.

On Tuesday afternoon, the police announced that a Romanian citizen had been detained, but later said there was no apparent connection with the case and he would be released.

Later, Bulgarian media reported that a man had been arrested in Germany and said statements from high-level officials were expected on Wednesday. There was no immediate confirmation.

Marinova worked for TVN, a small regional channel based in Ruse. Her new show was called Detektor. The first episode, which also turned out to be the last, featured interviews with two investigative journalists working on a corruption investigation into misuse of EU funds, led by the Bulgarian investigative outlet Bivol.

During the broadcast, Marinova lamented the state of media freedom in Bulgaria and promised her show would continue to discuss corruption scandals and carry out its own investigations. Transparency International ranked Bulgaria 111th out of 180 countries in its most recent press freedom index, the lowest of any EU country.

The killing fits into a pattern of violent attacks on female reporters. Last October, a Russian radio journalist, Tatyana Felgenhauer, was stabbed in the neck at her station’s Moscow studio by a 48-year-old male intruder who had monitored her broadcasts and written blogposts about her. Last August, the Swedish journalist Kim Wall was sexually assaulted, murdered and dismembered by a Danish inventor, Peter Madsen, while onboard his miniature submarine. Madsen was jailed for life for the attack.

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