On June 8, Andreas was informed that the Greek Supreme Court decided to render final and irreversible his conviction for not submitting the 2009 deficit and debt statistics to approval by a vote (this was judged to be a violation of duty, despite the fact that the European Statistics Code of Practice is very clear that statistics are not voted upon). The Supreme Court decision did not find a problem with many irregularities in the legal process that convicted Andreas: for example, relying on blatantly false translations of the European Statistics Code of Practice (ignoring the accurate, official Greek translations of this policy), ignoring court testimonies of EU official statisticians and policy makers on the correct interpretation of this policy and ignoring clarifications about this policy via a law by the Greek legislature itself. The Supreme Court also ignored the fact that the deputy prosecutor of the Supreme Court assigned to the case recommended acquittal. A brief article from the UK National Herald describes these developments.
This conviction makes final Andreas’ conviction to 2 years in prison, which is suspended for two years unless he gets another conviction in the meantime. Moreover, there is no recourse in the Greek justice system. The next step would be to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights. But make no mistake, June 8 was a bleak day for European statistics and official statistics around the world.
Voices of support: Terras Irradient
Ultimately, exposing the detrimental impact these unjust persecutions have on Greece itself will be an important key to ending this story. Several recent articles have eloquently made this connection. Tony Barber of the Financial Times penned a supportive and thoughtful article: Doubts over judicial fairness will hold back Greece (subscription required). The article draws a clear link from Greece’s troubled rule of law reputation to the ability of Greece to draw the international investment it needs to shore up its economy. A companion letter from former staff of the International Monetary fund was the most widely read letter of the day at the Financial Times. And a no-holds barred critique from Sigrun Davidsdottir excoriated the European Union for its failure to take a stronger stance on these issues.