MINISTERS OF JUSTICE OF ARMENIA AND SLOVAKIA SIGN AGREEMENT ON COOPERATION

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YEREVAN, MAY 29, NOYAN TAPAN. An agreement on cooperation in the legal
field was signed between the Ministries of Justice of the Republics of
Armenia and Slovakia in Yerevan. At the joint press conference of
Stefan Harabin, the Minister of Justice and the Deputy Prime Minister
of Slovakia, and Gevorg Danielian, the Minister of Justice of the
Republic of Armenia, held on the same day the latter mentioned that the
ground for the cooperation of the two countries in the legal field was
set by the cooperation of the Prosecutors General of the two countries.

The Minister of Justice of Slovakia mentioned that the agreement gives
an opportunity for exchange of experience in the legal sphere. The
Minister also expressed hope that there will also be an exchange of
expert groups. The Slovakian Minister "respects Armenia and the
Armenian people very much as a people, who has an exceptional history:
only Armenia can be proud of being the first to adopt Christianity,"
the Minister said and added that the very belief enabled the Armenian
people to live thousand years and survive "that severe genocide". The
National Council of the Republic of Slovakia recognized the Armenian
Genocide in 2004, Stefan Harabin as a specialist of criminal right
believes that the crime committed with regard to a whole people cannot
remain unpunished. The MInister has submitted the draft on making
amendments to the law on Condemning the denial of genocides to the
government of his country, in the preamble of which the Armenian
Genocide is mentioned as the most important fact. The bill envisages
five years of imprisonment for the denial of genocide. The bill will
come into exercise in January-February 2009. "Our legal specification
is a great step forward and we expand the force of the law by spreading
it on all the other genocides." According to the Minister, it is the
obligation of any democratic country to give such a reaction to this
issue.

Ashot Grigorian, the Chairman of the Armenian Forum of Europe and the
Armenian community in Slovakia, who is also the author of the Genocide
resolution, mentioned in his turn that the denial process of genocide
is cery actual in Slovakia as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey
demands that the khachcar (commemorative cross-stone) placed by
Armenians in the center of Bratislava should be dismantled. Very great
political pressure has been imposed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
of Turkey for already two years concerning this issue. "What Mr.
Harabin did immediately cuts all the demarcations of Turks," Ashot
Grigorian said. "After adopting this law the Turkish diplomacy should
conciliate with its defeat as henceforth we will just stop any
negotiation concerning the dismantle of the monument," Stefan Harabin
said.

The Minister of Slovakia paid homage to the victims of the Genocide
visiting the memorial complex of the Genocide.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress