Bobi Tsankov (; 12 August 1979 – 5 January 2010) was a Bulgarian journalist,

crime writer Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professiona ...

and radio personality, who was killed in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

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 broad ...

'' 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 (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

Irina Bokova Irina Georgieva Bokova (; born 12 July 1952) is a Bulgarian politician and a former Director-General of UNESCO (2009–2017). During her political and diplomatic career in Bulgaria, she served, among others, two terms as a member of the Nation ...

and

Nina Ognianova Nina Ognianova () 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 Journalists' Network, since 2007 s ...

of the

Committee to Protect Journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in New York City, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists. The '' American Journalism ...

condemned the killing. Mark Gray, a spokesperson for the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

, 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