October 10 (SeeNews) - A man suspected of raping and murdering Bulgarian TV journalist Viktoria Marinova last week was apprehended by the German authorites on a European arrest warrant, Bulgaria's interior minister Mladen Marinov said on Wednesday.
The suspect is 21-year old Bulgarian citizen Severin Krasimirov, whose DNA was found on the victim's body, Marinov said during a press briefing in Sofia aired by private broadcaster bTV.
DNA from the victim was discovered on Krasimirov's clothes found at his home in Bulgaria, prosecutor general Sotir Tsatsarov said during the briefing, standing alongside Mladen Marinov and Bulgarian prime minister Boyko Borissov
Currently, no lead to the motives for the murder is ruled out, with investigators working on theories related to both the personal life and the professional activities of the victim, Marinov added.
The dead body of Viktoria Marinova, anchor and administrative director at TVN-Bulgaria channel, was found in a riverside park in the Danube city of Ruse on October 6. She was raped and suffered blows to the head and suffocation, according to the authorities.
Severin Krasimirov will face two charges - rape and premeditated murder, Tsatsarov said.
On Monday evening, several hundred people gathered in front of the Palace of Justice in Sofia in memory of the murdered journalist, urging the judiciary to conduct a swift and thorough investigation whether her brutal murder was related to her work as journalist.
According to the latest edition of Reporters Without Borders' World Press Freedom report, Bulgaria ranks lowest among all EU member states in terms of media freedom.