Bobi Tsankov (; 12 August 1979 – 5 January 2010) was a Bulgarian journalist, crime writer and radio personality, who was killed in

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

for unclear reasons.

Biography

Boris "Bobi" Tsankov was born in Sofia on 12 August 1979. A controversial figure, in 2003 he was arrested and in 2006 he was convicted for fraud. He has been a host for Viva Radio. In September 2009 he started publishing a series on article on the tabloid ''Weekend'' about local crime figures. On TV he claimed to be close to some of underworld bosses of Bulgaria. In November 2009 he published ''Secrets of the Mobsters'', described as an autobiographical thriller, while according to the police it was a mix of fact and fiction.

Murder of Tsankov

In 2004 a bomb exploded in front of Tsankov's home. On 5 January 2010, he was shot dead in central Sofia in broad daylight by two gunmen. He was 30 years old. Two other men were wounded: they were his bodyguards according to ''

Dnevnik Dnevnik means "The Daily" or "Daily News" in South Slavic languages. It can also be translated as "Diary". Closely related Slavic variants of the word are Deník (Czech) Dziennik (Polish) and Дневник (Russian). It may refer to: ;In broadc ...

'' while according to the police they were clients of the same law firm that Tsankov had previously visited. Director-General of

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Irina Bokova Irina Georgieva Bokova ( bg, Ирина Георгиева Бокова; born 12 July 1952) is a Bulgarian politician and the former Director-General of UNESCO (2009–2017). During her political and diplomatic career in Bulgaria, she served, a ...

and

Nina Ognianova Nina Ognianova ( bg, Нина Огнянова) is a Bulgarian journalist and rights activist, coordinator of the Europe and Central Asia Program of the Committee to Protect Journalists since 2006. Formerly a staff writer for the International Jou ...

of the

Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American independent non-profit, non-governmental organization, based in New York City, New York, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journa ...

condemned the killing. Mark Gray, a spokesperson for the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

, and EurActiv noted that shootings were a serious problem in Bulgaria. Krasimir Marinov, a suspected crime boss, was arrested and charged with incitement to murder, but was later freed. Authorities were seeking also his brother Nikolai Marinov. Stefan Bonev was also detained. The motives of his murder remain unclear: it has been argued that it could have been related to his writings or to his frauds.

Biography

Murder of Tsankov

References

See also