Prosecutor calls for former ELSTAT chief to be cleared

A vice prosecutor of the Supreme Court has proposed that an appeal by the former head of the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT), Andreas Georgiou, against an appeals court decision imposing a suspended two-year prison sentence upon him for violation of duty, be upheld.

If the proposal by the prosecutor, Efstathia Spyropoulou, is accepted, the sentence against Georgiou will be revoked and the case is not expected to go to trial again.

Initially Georgiou had been accused of failing to inform ELSTAT’s managing board before sending Greece’s budget figures to Eurostat in 2009.

He was cleared by a first instance court of violation of duty until that verdict was contested by a prosecutor.

The prosecution of the former International Monetary Fund economist prompted criticism from Greece’s international creditors.