A Bulgarian Sports Official and Former Member of European Parliament Shot Dead

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — The head of the Bulgarian Taekwondo Federation and vice president of the European Taekwondo Union was shot dead on Saturday at his home in Sofia, police said.

Slavi Binev, 60, had switched to politics after a successful career as Taekwondo fighter to become member of the National Assembly and of the European Parliament elected on the ticket of nationalist parties.

Police received a call about gunfire around 10:30 a.m. and found him dead when they arrived at the scene. An investigation is underway.

Top police officer Lyubomir Nikolov told reporters that three suspects were detained on a highway outside Sofia.

Nikolov said two of the suspects had Turkish citizenship, while the third held a Bulgarian ID card. He added that they were armed but did not elaborate about possible motives of the crime.

Local media reported about his activities in the early 1990s, linked to a group that ran several entertainment venues in Sofia and was allegedly involved in prostitution, drugs and trafficking of stolen cars.

During the 1990s, mafia-style killings of public figures were a common occurrence in Bulgaria. The death of Binev is the latest of a new sequence of high-profile killings. It coincided with the end of a heated campaign for Sunday's presidential elections.