John Kiriakou
 John Kiriakou     (whistleblower) | |
|---|---|
 John Kiriakou, as depicted in Robert Shetterly's "Americans Who Tell the Truth" series | |
| Born | John Chris Kiriakou 1964-08-09 Sharon, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Residence | Arlington, Virginia, USA |
| Nationality | USA |
| Exposed | CIA/Torture |
| Member of | Institute for Policy Studies, Sam Adams Award, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity |
The only CIA officer to go to prison for reasons connected to their torturing of suspects - the first whistleblower. | |
John Kiriakou, the first CIA officer to blow the whistle on the CIA Torture Program, was the only person to go to prison in that connection.
Trial
On January 23, 2012, Kiriakou was charged with repeatedly disclosing classified information to journalists. Lawyer and fellow whistleblower Jesselyn Radack helped him with the case. He was indicted on April 5, 2012.[1] On January 25, 2013, Kiriakou was sentenced to 30 months in prison. On February 3, 2015, Kiriakou was released from prison to serve three months of house arrest at his home in Arlington, Virginia.
Whistleblowing
On December 10, 2007, Kiriakou gave an interview to ABC News[2] where he was described as participating in the capture and questioning of Abu Zubaydah, supposedly an aide to Osama Bin Laden. In it he stated that CIA had waterboarded Zubaydah. Later the commercially-controlled media reported that Zubaydah had been waterboarded at least 83 times[3].
Kiriakou termed Gina Haspel the “godmother of the torture program.”[4]
A Quote by John Kiriakou
| Page | Quote | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scott Shane | “Scott Shane may be a great reporter. He may be a Pulitzer prize winner, but the man just simply can’t be trusted.” | 23 January 2019 | The Gray Zone Project |
Event Participated in
| Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| International Festival of Whistleblowing Dissent and Accountability | 8 May 2021 | 8 May 2021 | Internet | Whistleblowing event held in 2021. |
