Ex statistics chief slams ‘misreporting’ of ruling
Commenting on a decision earlier this month by a misdemeanor court in Piraeus on Thursday, the former head of the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT), Andreas Georgiou, said the outcome of criminal proceedings against him was misreported in the media and had “absolutely nothing to do with any alleged ‘inflation’ of the fiscal deficit of 2009.”
On the contrary, he said, the case heard on June 14 “was in relation to my references to the deliberate misreporting of Greece’s statistics for a long time, before my taking up my duties as president [of ELSTAT] in August 2010.
He said the court found him guilty of “publishing true statements which could harm the reputation of others and not of libel as falsely reported.”
