Dr. Georgiou faces ongoing legal proceedings related to his tenure as President of Greece’s national statistical office from 2010 to 2015 – specifically, for the release of the official Greek National Statistics in 2010, which revealed the full magnitude of the fiscal expenditure in the period prior to 2010 that had led to the Greek financial crisis. The sustained 11-year backlash against Dr. Georgiou, despite his professional conduct in his role in line with recognized best practice and the repeated validation of these statistics by the EU Statistics Office, represents a clear violation of the ISC’s Principle of Freedom and Responsibility in Science.
Dr. Georgiou’s case is now before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The ECHR is deliberating on whether Dr. Georgiou’s human rights were breached by the Greek court’s failure to submit a pre-trial question to the European Court of Justice for clarification, following his request. Additionally, the Annual Human Rights Report of the US State Department has taken the unusual step of highlighting Dr. Georgiou’s case under Section 1.e: Denial of Fair Public Trial for three consecutive years.
The ISC has repeatedly made representation to the Office of the PM of Greece on this issue and continues to advocate on Dr. Georgiou’s behalf. In August 2021, we published a statement on Dr. Georgiou’s situation and our concerns for the implications of his case for the integrity of science.
We invite you to re-read the full statement and to show your support for Dr. Georgiou and the free and responsible pursuit of science by sharing this update on social media.