Victoria Marinova ( bg, Виктория Маринова; 19 August 1988 – 6 October 2018) 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.

Career

Marinova was the administrative director of TVN Television in Ruse. She presented a current affairs talk programme called ''Detector'' for Ruse's TVN television 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. The second episode that had been planned to air afterwards would have covered the Hitrino train derailment accident, which resulted in the death of 7 people and injured more than 29 others. 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. Among the suspects are Russian citizens, associated with the Bulgarian division of " Lukoil".

Death

In the afternoon of 7 October 2018, Marinova's body was found in a riverside park in

Ruse Ruse may refer to: Places *Ruse, Bulgaria, a major city of Bulgaria **Ruse Municipality ** Ruse Province ** 19th MMC – Ruse, a constituency *Ruše, a town and municipality in north-eastern Slovenia * Ruše, Žalec, a small settlement in east-ce ...

, which is a popular walking and jogging spot for the citizens of the town. She had been beaten and raped before being murdered, which occurred around noon of that Saturday. Marinova was the third journalist killed in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

in less than a year, after

Daphne Caruana Galizia Daphne Anne Caruana Galizia (; 26 August 1964 – 16 October 2017) was a Maltese writer, journalist, blogger and anti-corruption activist, who reported on political events in Malta. In particular, she focused on investigative journalism, repor ...

from

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, and Jan Kuciak and his fiancée from

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

. 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.

References

External links

* *
Marinova's Facebook profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marinova, Victoria Bulgarian journalists Bulgarian women journalists 1988 births 2018 deaths People murdered in Bulgaria Bulgarian murder victims 21st-century journalists 21st-century Bulgarian women writers Murdered journalists People from Ruse, Bulgaria Violence against women in Bulgaria 2018 murders in Europe 2018 crimes in Bulgaria 2010s murders in Bulgaria

Career

Death

See also

References

External links