Victoria Marinova (Bulgarian: Виктория Маринова; 19 August 1988 – 6 October 2018)[1] was a Bulgarian TV host and journalist. She was raped and murdered at age 30. Her death caused international outrage during a time of increased violence against investigative reporters.[citation needed]
Victoria Marinova | |
|---|---|
Виктория Маринова | |
 | |
| Born | 19 August 1988 |
| Died | 6 October 2018 (aged 30) Ruse, Bulgaria |
| Nationality | Bulgarian |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Spouse | Svilen Maksimov |
| Children | 1 |
Career
editMarinova was the administrative director of TVN Television in Ruse. She presented a current affairs talk programme called Detector for Ruse's TVN television[2] which had recently been relaunched. The first episode of the show on September 30 included with investigative journalists Dimitar Stoyanov and Attila Biro, about an investigation of alleged fraud with EU funds linked to big businessmen and politicians.[3] The second episode that had been planned to air afterwards would have covered the Hitrino train derailment accident,[4] which resulted in the death of 7 people and injured more than 29 others.[5] According to Bulgarian investigative journalists, the same companies that had been involved with the alleged fraud with EU funds, had also won a public procurement deal in the Hitrino case.[4] Among the suspects are Russian citizens, associated with the Bulgarian division of "Lukoil".[6]
Death
editIn the afternoon of 7 October 2018, Marinova's body was found in a riverside park in Ruse, which is a popular walking and jogging spot for the citizens of the town. She had been beaten and raped[2] before being murdered, which occurred around noon of that Saturday.[1] Marinova was the third journalist killed in the European Union in less than a year, after Daphne Caruana Galizia from Malta, and Jan Kuciak and his fiancée from Slovakia.[7][8] 21-year-old Severin Krasimirov, who had fled to Germany, pled guilty to raping and murdering her and was sentenced on 23 April 2019 to 30 years in prison. Prosecutors stated that the attack appeared to be a random sexual assault unconnected to Marinova's work as a journalist.[9]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Bulgaria: Journalist Victoria Marinova brutally murdered". International Federation of Journalists. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
- ^ a b "Viktoria Marinova: Bulgarian TV journalist raped and murdered". The Guardian. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
- ^ Our Foreign Staff (7 October 2018). "Bulgarian journalist found brutally murdered in park". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
- ^ a b Cooper, Alex. "Bulgarian Journalist Viktoria Marinova Violently Murdered". www.occrp.org. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
- ^ "Bulgaria: A year after the deadly disaster in Hitrino". The Sofia Globe. 10 December 2017. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
- ^ "Русский след. Что известно об убийстве болгарской журналистки" [Russian trace: What is known about the murder of a Bulgarian journalist.]. Радио Свобода (in Russian). Retrieved 14 October 2018.
- ^ "TV Host's Brutal Murder Shakes Bulgaria". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
- ^ "TV journalist murder arrest in Germany". BBC News. 10 October 2018.
- ^ "Viktoria Marinova: TV presenter's killer sentenced to 30 years". BBC News. 23 April 2019.
External links
edit- Rankin, Jennifer (8 October 2018). "European commission and Germany urge Bulgaria to find journalist's killers". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
- Walker, Shaun (9 October 2018). "'The horror we live in': journalist's murder shocks Bulgaria". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
- Marinova's Facebook profile