Trnava Region President Jozef Viskupič presents the Anton Srholec Freedom Award

On 17 November 2018, the President of the Trnava Self-Governing Region, Jozef Viskupič, presented the Anton Srholec Freedom Award for the first time. The award bears the name of a man for whom freedom was a lifelong goal, programme and theme.

At the presentation, Viskupič said: “The purpose of conferring this award is to spread the message of the importance of freedom, justice, democracy, human rights and personal responsibility” — symbolically, at the time of the 29th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution.

The laureates of the first edition were: Helena Woleková for promoting democracy and human rights; Milan Kňažko for his cultural contribution and resistance to communism; Lajos Grendel for his lifelong intellectual and civic engagement in support of tolerance; and Jaroslav Žilák for his persistent pursuit of justice. The in memoriam award was accepted by the relatives of Ján Kuciak and Martina Kušnírová for their devotion to a better Slovakia.

To mark the occasion, the Trnava Region held several events — an open day, the Tribute to Freedom concert on Holy Trinity Square and a formal ceremony at the Ján Palárik Theatre, followed by a panel discussion with the laureates.