ASA Issues New Statement of Support for Greek Statistician Andreas Georgiou

During its November 2019 meeting, the ASA Board of Directors approved another statement of support for Greek statistician Andreas Georgiou:

The American Statistical Association is proud to have as a member Andreas Georgiou, who was president of the Hellenic Statistical Authority from 2010–2015. Georgiou is a distinguished official statistician of high scientific integrity and capability who is committed to our profession and who abides by the ASA’s Ethical Guidelines for Statistical Practice. He is also a person of great character, honor, and honesty.

We are therefore troubled by Greece’s continued persecution of its former head statistician. Now in the ninth year, there are still open investigations and trials of Georgiou, a government professional who is loyal to his country.

Greece’s new government provides an opportunity to remedy the unjust official treatment of Georgiou. Ending the prosecutions, accusations, and legal proceedings and exonerating Georgiou would signal Greece’s commitment to accurate and ethical official statistics. This, in turn, could help foster foreign investment and overall confidence among Greece’s international partners, which helps Greece’s economy.

For more information about the history of Andreas Georgiou’s work, see the following articles and updates:

• Eight Years of Government Persecution of Greek Statistician, ASA policy update
• Six Statistical Organizations Issue Commendation for Andreas Georgiou, ASA press release
• Trials of a Statistician, Robert Langkjær-Bain, Significance magazine, August, 2017
• A Statistician’s Ordeal: The Case of Andreas Georgiou, Miranda Xafa, World Economics, July - September, 2019