Former MEP and Bulgarian taekwondo chief Slavi Binev shot dead in Sofia home

A killing at home as the campaign closed

Slavi Binev, 60, was shot dead at his house in the Pavlovo district of Sofia on 24 October, the day the campaign for the presidential election on 25 October ended. Police said they received a call about gunfire at about 10:30 a.m. and found him dead when officers arrived. Emergency services logged the call at 10:28, and an ambulance reached the property seven minutes later, but its crew could only confirm the death. Bulgarian media reports say a worker at the property raised the alarm after several people had arrived and shots were heard.

Three men held on the Trakia motorway

Police tracked a SUV believed to have been used by the attackers as it left the capital, and according to press reports masked officers blocked it in traffic on the Trakia motorway. Lyubomir Nikolov, the acting chief secretary of the Interior Ministry, told reporters that three men had been detained on a highway outside Sofia. Two of them held Turkish citizenship and the third a Bulgarian identity card, and Nikolov said all three were armed. Bulgarian press reports say the men worked in construction and were developing two residential complexes in Sofia, and that two pistols were found, one of which may have been used in the killing. Press reports also say Binev died from a single bullet to the head, and that one cartridge was found at the scene.

What investigators say about a motive

Nikolov did not give a motive, and officials had not confirmed who was responsible. Interior Ministry sources told the Spanish news agency EFE that the motive was a domestic dispute, while Bulgarian press reports say investigators suspect an unresolved financial dispute rather than a contract killing. Nikolay Peltekov, director of the Sofia Directorate of Internal Affairs (SDVR), ruled out a paid execution, saying the suspects had known Binev for a long time and had made no effort to hide their identities. As of the latest reports, police had not said publicly what led to the shooting.

Binev's career from the ring to parliament

Binev was born in Sofia on 10 December 1965 and first made his name as a taekwondo competitor, winning the European senior title in 1992 in Celje, Slovenia. After his competitive career he worked as an international referee, coach and sports manager, and by 2016 he had been elected president of the Bulgarian Taekwondo Federation. He also served as vice president of the European Taekwondo Union and sat on the World Taekwondo Council. In politics he entered the European Parliament on the list of the nationalist Ataka party and later sat in the Bulgarian parliament for the Patriotic Front. Local media tied his early 1990s activities to a network that ran nightclubs in the capital and was allegedly involved in vice, narcotics and the trafficking of stolen cars.

Reaction and open questions

In a Facebook post, the European Taekwondo Union, where Binev served as vice president, offered its condolences to his family and the Bulgarian taekwondo community.

Mr Binev was a dedicated leader who made significant contributions to the development and promotion of taekwondo, both in Bulgaria and internationally.

As of the latest reports, the three detained men had not been publicly named by officials, and the investigation into the killing was continuing.