Caputova Pays Tribute to Victims of Communist Regime

Bratislava, November 17 (TASR) – President Zuzana Caputova commemorated the victims of the Communist regime in Slovakia by laying a wreath at the Freedom Gate memorial in the Bratislava borough of Devin on Tuesday, which marks the 31st anniversary of the Velvet Revolution.

The memorial is located close to the Austrian border to honour those who were killed by the Communist security forces while attempting to flee the then Czechoslovakia.

“It can be felt very intensely at this place how violent the totalitarian regime that fell in 1989 was against its own citizens,” said Caputova, adding that the upheaval in 1989 that became known as the Velvet Revolution strongly rejected violence.

“It’s become a tradition in modern Slovakia that all important changes here have been made peacefully and without violence. It’s also necessary to recall this today; if we want to achieve a change in public affairs and express our opinion, it must be done in a cultivated, decent and especially non-violent way,” said Caputova in reference to protests against the Government’s coronavirus policies scheduled for later in the day.