The American Statistical Association (ASA) is the latest well-known institution to come to the defense of the former head of Greece’s Hellenic Statistical Authority (EL.STAT), Andreas Georgiou, reminding Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras that the “goal of a statistical agency is to describe reality, not to create it.”
ASA addressed a letter to the leftist Greek premier in the wake of Georgiou’s continuing legal battles with Greek justice, after successive charges have been filed, re-filed and acquittals appealed by a handful of prosecutors at practically all levels of the domestic justice system – first instance, appellate and supreme court.
The highly regarded US association refers to a “politicization” of statistics in the still bailout-dependent country – an unflattering and repeated charge leveled at EL.STAT before Georgiou’s tenure – and laments the lack of a “double jeopardy” caveat to prevent Georgiou’s continuing prosecution on the same charges and after a previous acquittal.
In fact, the ASA warns of a “triple jeopardy”, a thinly veiled censure of Greece’s creaky justice system.
