It is crucial that national statistical offices can operate independently from governmental or other political pressures. Otherwise official statistics are likely to become distorted undermining their informational content and usefulness. Reliability of the official statistics is the key element which enables societies to act meaningfully for the good of their citizens, economy, and environment.
The charges against and convictions of Andreas Georgiou, the former national statistician of Greece, are outraging. They are a cause for great concern for statisticians and alike working for statistical offices in Greece and elsewhere. By undermining the trustworthiness of statistics, they are a threat to societies in general.
The Finnish Statistical Society endorses the call to end the prosecutions against Andreas Georgiou and the statement of the heads of the American Statistical Association, the International Statistical Institute, and the Royal Statistical Society of the 7th of October, 2021.