(alongside various others) with having organized Lukanov's murder. After a long trial and an initial guilty verdict, the Bulgarian Court of Appeal declared Vassilev and the other defendants to be innocent. Public rumors to the effect that Lukanov would be slain had been in existence for months before the killing was carried out. To this day, the true perpetrators of the assassination remain unknown. See also List of unsolved murders References External links 1938 births 1996 deaths Prime Ministers of Bulgaria Deputy prime ministers of Bulgaria Government ministers of Bulgaria Bulgarian Communist Party politicians Moscow State Institute of International Relations alumni Assassinated Bulgarian politicians Deaths by firearm in Bulgaria People murdered in Bulgaria Burials at Central Sofia Cemetery Bulgarian expatriates in the Soviet Union Bulgarian Socialist Party politicians 20th-century Bulgarian politicians Assassinated heads of government Unsolved murders in Bulgaria 1996 murders in Bulgaria