German authorities on Tuesday arrested a suspect for the rape and murder of Bulgarian journalist Victoria Marinova, according to the Bulgarian authorities, which ruled out "at this stage" motives related to the profession of the victim.
Bulgarian Interior Minister Mladen Marinov told a news conference on Wednesday that the investigation had resulted in the identification of a man linked to the death of Marinova in Rossi, northern Bulgaria, adding that the German authorities arrested him late Tuesday on suspicion of involvement in the crime, at the request of the authorities Bulgarian "after he fled" to Germany.
The Bulgarian minister disclosed some information about the suspect, explaining that he was born in 1997 and that he was wanted mainly in the case of murder and rape, according to AFP.
Bulgarian prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov said earlier that Marinwa's murder "is not at the present stage linked to the victim's professional activity."
Minister Marinov confirmed earlier that the victim, who was found dead in a public park in a Russian city with blows to the head and suffocation, was raped.
Bulgarian radio announced Tuesday that the authorities arrested a suspect in the murder and rape of Marinova, 30, which sparked widespread international condemnation.
The radio report quoted initial information from the Bulgarian Interior Ministry that the suspect was a "Romanian citizen with a passport from Moldova", but no other information was disclosed.
Bulgarian reports and authorities did not say whether there was any connection between the "Roman" suspect and the suspect arrested in Germany.
Marinova was the managing director of the small television station TVN in Rossi and recently began a special talk show entitled "The Kashif".
The first episode of the program, which was broadcast on September 30, dealt with alleged frauds of EU funds linked to senior businessmen and politicians.
The arrest of two journalists, Dimitar Stoyanov, from the Bevol DGB site and Attila Pero from the "Stand Up Project" was followed briefly by the Bulgarian police, which Reporters Without Borders denounced.
