ASA Statement, Prominent Individuals Urge Greek Authorities to Halt Prosecutions of Andreas Georgiou, His Colleagues

The statement the ASA has been circulating for sign-on in support of Andreas Georgiou—the persecuted former head of the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT), and his colleagues—has garnered the support of dozens of organizations and more than a thousand individuals. The trio continues to face charges in Greece for revising, in full accordance with European Union statistical rules and principles, the inaccurate and misleading deficit and debt figures of Greece for the years up to and including 2009.

The statement calls on the Greek government to immediately halt legal proceedings against Georgiou and his colleagues and notes the detriment of the Greek authorities’ approach on the country’s economy.

The statement was first released January 10, 2018, with the names of 40 organizations and 650 individuals. In the accompanying press release, 2018 ASA President Lisa LaVange stated, “The number of individuals and organizations signed onto this statement, along with their breadth of professions and interests, make a clear statement that Greek authorities should halt the unjust and counterproductive prosecution of Georgiou and his colleagues. We hope that 2018 will mark a new beginning for Greece and its respect for the independent production of objective government statistics.”

Since the statement release, the number of organizations that have signed on has increased to 45 and represents economists, statisticians, researchers, and others. The number of individuals has risen to 1,050+ and includes nine Nobel laureates, a former managing director of the International Monetary Fund, a former chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, two former chief statisticians of the United States—one of whom is also a former director of the United Nations Statistics Division—current and former heads and officials of national statistical offices from around the world, many officials and former officials of national statistical offices, national statistical society officers, academicians and professionals, and dozens of Greek nationals.

We continue to accept the names of organizations and individuals in support of Georgiou and his colleagues at www.tinyurl.com/SupportGeorgiou.