John Kiriakou about what can go wrong with spy agencies | Splendour Forum 2015

What happens when a few good men (and women) stand up to wrongdoing in the world’s most secret agencies?

In his first address to an Australian audience, Kiriakou is joined by lawyer and former ACT Attorney, General Bernard Collaery who is defending “K” an ASIS agent who revealed Australia used its state spies to bug the cabinet room of one of the world’s poorest nations, East Timor. The pair chat to whistleblower expert, academic and author, Dr Suelette Dreyfus who wrote Underground with Julian Assange about what can go wrong when spy agencies can hide behind their veils of secrecy.

John Kiriakou was a director of CIA counterterrorism operations in Pakistan after the September 11 attacks and led raids that resulted in the capture of 52 Al Qaeda fighters. He later worked as the senior investigator for the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In 2007, he became the first CIA officer to confirm the use of torture against CIA prisoners. The FBI investigated Kiriakou and the Justice Department eventually charged him with espionage. Kiriakou took a plea to a reduced charge and served 23 months in federal prison. He was released from prison in February 2015 and now is active in peace and anti-torture circles.

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