Writer who covered organised crime gunned down

Reporters Without Borders condemns yesterday’s murder of writer and columnist Georgi Stoev, who wrote about Bulgaria’s criminal underworld. Stoev was gunned down outside a hotel in the centre of Sofia and died of his injuries in a hospital. “We urge the Bulgarian authorities to ensure that every effort is made to identify the perpetrators, instigators and motives of Stoev’s murder,” the press freedom organisation said. “The sensitive nature of the subjects he wrote about are an additional reason for ensuring that this murder does not go unpunished.” A former wrestler and bodyguard, Stoev claimed that he used to belong to a criminal gang, knew organised crime leaders personally, and used his experiences in his novels and non-fiction books about Bulgaria’s criminal underworld.