Student hospitalised following hunger strike

Català

Communiqué from the Catalan Territories Students' Union (SEPC), part of the student movement based against the implementation of the Bologna Process in Barcelona.

29th March 2009: Student hospitalised following hunger strike

Tomàs Sayes, 25, a student of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, has been hospitalised as a result of his hunger strike which began on the 23rd February 2009. His decision to refuse food is an act of militant bravery and strength in the face of the Catalan universities' refusal to enter into dialogue with students concerning the Bolonia Process. The student movement against the implementation of the Bologna Process has three demands:
1. A moratorium on the application of the EHEA (European Higher Education Area)
2. The re-admission of the 6 students expelled from the UAB (Autonomous University of Barcelona) for their part in the occupation of faculties and involvement in forbidden protests. The expulsion of these students was carried out with a law created by the Francoist dictatorship in 1954.
3. Dialogue between the governing bodies implementing the university reforms and the students that will be affected by them.

Until these demands have been met, Tomàs will continue his hunger strike.

With this blunt and extreme action, Tomàs is trying to force the university institutions to iniciate a dialogue with the student community. Over the last few months, students have occupied university buildings in the Catalan Territories in order to force a dialogue. Once again, the response of the university institutions has been to ignore the student's requests. They try to dumb down the importance of Tomàs' action as well as trying to silence and censor any show of support people offer him.

Tomàs' university, the UAB, has never shown the slightest interest in the state of Tomàs' health and has allowed the hunger strike to continue to the point of putting the life of our striker in grave peril with his resulting hospitalisation.

For this reason, we consider the following people directly responsible for the current critical state of Tomàs' health:
1. Anna Ripoll (Rector of the UAB)
2. Ester Crespo (Head of Communication, UAB)
3. Santiago Guerrero (Vice-Rector, UAB)
4. Blanca Palmada (University Comissioner, UAB)
5. Josep Huguet (Catalan Minister for Innovation, Universities and Companies)
6. The entire senate team of the UAB.

We, the Catalan Territories Students' Union (SEPC), call on the authorities to reconsider their intransigent and authoritarian position. We believe that the entire student movement can legitimately use any means necessary in order to force dialogue.


More information can be found at:
http://vagadefamperlauniversitatpublica.wordpress.com/