Wreathes were ceremoniously laid on Wednesday before the Armenian Genocide cross-stone-monument erected at the heart of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia.   

The wreathes were laid by Slovakia’s Supreme Court Chairman Štefan Harabin, Armenia’s Constitutional Court President Gagik Harutyunyan, and others, the Forum of Armenian Associations of Europe informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.  

Štefan Harabin stated that he places a huge importance to Slovakia’s Law on Criminalizing Armenian Genocide’s Denial, and reaffirmed that if any Turkish official—or anybody else—dare to deny in Slovakia the fact of the Armenian Genocide, they will be immediately sentenced to up to five years in prison.  

In his turn, Gagik Harutyunyan briefly reflected on the unprofessionally formulated provisions in the French Constitutional Council’s decision, whereby the French bill on criminalizing the denial of genocides was deemed unconstitutional.

Also, Harutyunyan expressed his deep gratitude to Slovakia, its people and especially to Štefan Harabin, for being the first EU country to pass a law on criminalizing genocide denial.