Interior minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said at a briefing that the killing of Slavi Binev does not look like a contract hit by "killers", and that the right man has been charged.

Yesterday Lyubomir Nikolov, acting chief secretary of the Interior Ministry, said three people had been detained at the Trayanovi Vrata tunnel, at the 54th kilometre. Binev was shot in the head. One of the three has now been charged.

How it began: Three people detained over the killing of Slavi Binev in Sofia

"This cannot be compared with other killings," Demerdzhiev said. He said it was not a case of men who wait for a victim and shoot at the right moment, or of members of the criminal underworld who were given a task.

The man who was charged was close to Binev, and the two had been in contact many times, the minister said. The other two were also close to Binev, and the family had let them get close. Demerdzhiev said it is impossible to prevent a situation where someone invites people into his home and they later decide to do this.

"There is all the evidence that proves the killing beyond doubt," the minister said.

Demerdzhiev said some people are trying to speculate, and called this very ugly: using Binev's political career as an argument and smearing someone's memory.

He offered his condolences. He said the Interior Ministry is following developments, is establishing the circumstances of the killing and is doing all it can to counter such crimes.

Before the briefing, prime minister Rumen Radev had said that such killings could most likely happen again. Demerdzhiev said he does not know what Radev meant. In his view, the tension comes from some people losing control over institutions they had taken over, and over money that had been draining out of the state budget.