The Greek government is proceeding with the withdrawal of the application that had been submitted to the European Court of Human Rights, for the review of the decision that acquitted the former head of ELSTAT, Andreas Georgiou.

A related announcement is expected from the Ministry of Finance.

According to information, the request for reconsideration was filed on June 8, that is, while the caretaker government was exercising its duties without it being noticed by the caretaker ministers.

The acting Minister of Justice Giorgos Floridis also received fire for the case, who made it clear in a post on Twitter that he had no involvement. “Great rush from some, friends and not, for bitter comments against me, for a signature of mine that did not exist and could not exist.”

As soon as the Mitsotakis government was informed about the case, the Maximos Palace immediately started the procedures to cancel the request.

The accusations, the acquittal and the appeal

In March 2023, the European Court of Human Rights acquitted the former head of the Greek Statistical Authority (ELSTAT), which in 2010 was at the center of the debt crisis.

Mr. Georgiou was accused of breach of duty because he allegedly held a position at the International Monetary Fund while at ELSTAT, failed to convene a meeting of ELSTAT’s board of directors for a period of ten months, and released national fiscal data without the board’s consent. of ELSTAT.

Although he was acquitted at first instance, in 2017 he was convicted on appeal for the third of these charges (including for publishing national fiscal data without the consent of the board of directors of ELSTAT) and was found not guilty of the rest.

The European regulation

Regarding his conviction for breach of duty, which had become irrevocable, Andreas Georgiou, through his lawyer Konstantinos Papadiamantis, appealed to the European Court complaining that he did not receive a fair trial in Greece, because the Supreme Court refused to satisfy his request for the submission of a pre-trial question to the European Court, in order to explain to the Greek Judiciary what is applicable by the European regulation on the operation of national statistical authorities, including ELSTAT.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled that there had been a violation of human rights and that his trial on the charge of breach of duty was unfair.

The EDD decided that the procedure before the Supreme Court should be repeated.

SOURCE: kathimerini