Thousands of Bulgarians staged commemorations on Monday evening, with the largest crowds turning out in Victoria Marinova’s hometown of Ruse, where she was brutally assaulted and murdered in broad daylight on Saturday.
Some of the people attending the vigil at St Nedelya Square in Sofia also went on to protest against corruption and called for government officials to resign.
The first part of the vigil in front of Sofia’s St Nedelya Church saw small groups of people gathering around an improvised shrine to place candles next to a portrait of Marinova.
Many journalists from Sofia-based news outlets also joined a larger crowd of people who then took to the streets in protest.
“She was killed in such a brutal manner, regardless if it was because of her work or not,” Petar Stoykov, a young man attending the vigil, told BIRN.
Marinova’s murder drew condemnation internationally. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on governments to ensure “accountability” for crimes against journalists such as the “grisly murder and rape” of the Bulgarian TV host, who worked for the small local channel TVN.
The murder caused ripples in Bulgaria as well, with the Chief Prosecutor and Interior Minister heading to Ruse to supervise the efforts of the local authorities in person.
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