Bulgarian investigative journalist murdered; third incident in EU in a year

Sofia, Oct 8: Europe witnessed yet another journalist getting killed for investigative reporting when 30-year-old Bulgarian broadcast journalist Victoria Marinova was found raped and murdered in Ruse, a city in northeastern part of the east European country, on Saturday, October 8.

Marinova, a reporter and producer at broadcaster TVN, was working on an investigation into alleged corruption involving funds of the European Union (EU) at the time of her murder. Police investigating the case said there was no evidence yet to prove that Marinova was murdered in relation to her work, the local media said.

A full probe was called into the journalist's death from anti-corruption groups and members of the European Parliament.

Marinova is the third journalist in the EU to have been killed in a year. While Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Gailizia was killed in a car explosion in October last year, Slovak reporter Jan Kuciak was shot dead at his home near Bratislava.

Marinova's final broadcast was about an investigation by a group of Bulgarian journalists into firms involved in EU-sponsored infrastructure projects looked after by local authorities. It alleged that 30-40 per cent of funding received by a group of companies was lost because of corruption.