CIA Whistleblower Imprisoned Who Talked Out Against Torture Policies

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Published time: May 30, 2013 17:50

The former CIA analyst who spoke out

against the agencys use of torture says

hes been deemed a "threat to public safety and is serving his prison

sentence in a crowded jail cell despite being promised admission to

a federal work camp.

John Kiriakou, 48, has been at Loretto Federal Correctional Institution

near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania since February after he took a plea deal

offered by the federal government. He was facing decades in prison

if convicted under the charge initially lobbed by the US Department

of Justice, violating the Espionage Act, but the government allowed

him last year to plead guilty to a single count of disclosing

information that identified a covert agent in exchange for a lesser

sentence.

Kiriakou made headlines in 2007 when he spoke at length to

John Kiriakou.(Screenshot from RT video)

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Sf dpn n f oef ereporters at ABC News about the Central Intelligence Agencys use ofwaterboarding as an interrogation tool against suspected terrorists.

Prior to the interview he spent several years working for the agency

abroad following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, serving

as head of counterterrorism operations in Pakistan before leaving the

CIA and condemning his countrys use of torture. Now three months

into his prison sentence, the website Firedoglake has published thefirst of Kiriakous Letters from Loretto.

I arrived here on February 28, 2013 to serve a 30-month sentence for

violating the Intelligence Identities Protection act of1982. At least that's

what the government wants people to believe. In truth, this is my

punishment forblowing the whistle on the CIA's illegal torture program

and for telling the public that torture was official US government policy,

Kiriakou writes. But that's a different story. The purpose ofthis letter is

to tell you about prison life.

Despite being told by prosecutors and the presiding judge that hed

serve his sentence in Loretto's Federal Work Camp, Kiriakou says he

has been held at the main facility because the Bureau of Prisons

deemed him a threat to the public safety.

My cell is more like a cubicle made out ofconcrete block. Built to hold

fourmen, mine holds six. Most others hold eight, he writes.

Kiriakou says he volunteered to teach fellow prisoners as part of

Lorettos GED program, but his counselor dismissed his request. He

now works as a janitor in the prisons chapel and makes just over five

dollars a

month.

In regards to the other inmates, Kiriakou says hes been largely

accepted into the prison.

My reputation preceded me, and a rumor got started that I was a CIA

hitman. The Aryans whispered that I was a 'Muslim hunter,' but the

Muslims, on the strength ofmy Arabic language skills and a well-timed

statement ofsupport from Louis Farrakhan have lauded me as a

champion ofMuslim human rights. Meanwhile, the Italians have taken a

liking to me because I'm patriotic, as they are, and I have a visceral

dislike ofthe FBI, which they do as well. I have good relations with the

blacks because I've helped several ofthem write communication appeals

or letters to judges and I don't charge anything for it. And the Hispanics

respect me because my cellmates, who represent a myriad ofLatin drug

gangs, have told them to. So far, so good, he writes.

CIA approved AP report

that triggered

investigation 13

CIA was lying about

torture even to its own

staff- CIA veteran

Kiriakou 37

Brennan the perfect guy

to head CIA ifits job is

to create more terrorists59

Ex-CIA officer Kiriakou

gets 30-months prison for

intel leak 30

Whistleblower who

revealed CIA torture

sentenced to prison 48


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Elsewhere, Kiriakou says that Lorettos Special Investigative Service,

the prison version ofevery police department's detective bureau, tried

to convince him that a fellow inmate, allegedly the uncle of an

accused terrorist, was told to kill him.

But the more I thought about it, the more this made no sense. Why

would the uncle ofthe Times Square bomberbe in a low-securityprison? he writes.

In the meantime, SIS told him that I had made a call to Washington

afterwe met, and that I had been instructed to kill him! We both

laughed at the ham-handedness by which SIS tried to get us to attack

each other. Ifwe had, we could have spent the rest ofour sentences in

the SHU - solitary. Instead, we're friendly, we exchange greetings in

rabic and English, and we chat, he says.

He also says that his cell was ransacked by prison officials in a shake-

down after correcting a guard who mispronounced his name.

Lesson learned: [Corrections officers] can treat us like subhumans but

we have to show them faux respect even when it's not earned, he says.

Kiriakou is expected to finish his sentence in August 2015. Before

going to Loretto, he said at an event in Washington, I never tortured

anybody, but Im heading to prison while the torturers and the lawyerswho papered overit and the people who deceived it and the men who

destroyed the proofofitthe tapes will never face justice.

In 2012, Kiriakou was indicted on one count of violating the

Intelligence Identities Protection Act, three counts of violating the

Espionage Act, and one count of making false statements. He

pleaded to the IIPA violation last October, prompting then-CIA

director David Petraeus to hail the conviction.

"This case yielded the first IIPA successful prosecution in 27 years, and it

marks an important victory for our Agency, for our Intelligence

Community, and forour country, Petraeus said. Oaths do matter, and

there are indeed consequences for those who believe they are above the

laws. Petraeus resigned two months later after it was revealed that

he had an extramarital affair with his biographer.

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Anonymous user30.05.2013 20:50The conditions in American prisons is dreadful and they are very

overcrowded.

Anonymous user30.05.2013 20:45Outrageous. My country is a psychopath.

Anonymous user30.05.2013 20:44CIA = criminal integrity agency

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CIA Whistleblower Imprisoned Who Talked Out Against Torture Policies

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