Letter to president Prodi

Published on May 9, 2002

Strasbourg, 8 May 2002

Dear President Prodi,

From 9 to 23 May the on-line election of the first "European Student Council" will be held, organised by the pioneer project "EU-Student Vote" in partnership with the European Commission (as stated on the projects website: www.eusv.org).

I am writing to inform you of several serious attacks on the most elementary principles of democracy which have been perpetrated in the name of a perverse, paternalistic vision of so-called e-democracy.

The "Antiprohibitionist Students" list has been expelled from the elections for having dared to reveal the irregularities hidden behind the voting system chosen by the EUSV.

A system of electronic voting, with no controls, with no possibility of communication between candidates and electors, and with no separation between the registration phase and the voting phase as such.

Although it was presented in accordance with the rules, the "Antiprohibitionist Students" list has been arbitrarily excluded from the elections by a "Leviathan organisation" that ignores all the basic rules of democracy and rights.

At 00.01 tomorrow, to coincide with the beginning of the voting operations, with other European students I will begin an all-out hunger strike to ask you to end any partnership between the European Union and the EUSV and not to recognise the body that will be formed on the basis of these elections to represent the students of the European Union.

In the hope that you will reply to my appeal, I send you my highest regards.

Yours sincerely,

Nicola Dell'Arciprete

candidate of the antiprohibitionist List

student in Political Sciences at the Luiss "Guido Carli" of Rome

and the University "Robert Schuman" of Strasbourg

P.S. Moreover I inform you that will also take part together with me to the all-out hunger strike Malena Zingoni, Matteo Marchesini, Valeria Vivarelli, Claudia Sterzi, Paolo Margari, Gianluca Monaco. While all the other candidates of the list will join the hunger strike for 24 hours.

Translated from Lettera aperta al presidente Prodi