John Kirakou, the former CIA officer who exposed the government’s torture program and remains the only person to face jail time for any action surrounding it, is being honored tomorrow night at a local DC restaurant, just two days prior to his sentencing in Alexandria, Virginia on Friday.
The event will honor Kiriakou, who headed CIA operations in Pakistan after 9/11 and organized the team that captured al-Qaeda leader Abu Zubaydah before speaking out against waterboarding, with the unveiling of his portrait by artist Robert Shetterly. Shetterly has produced a series of portraits that feature important truth-tellers and whistleblowers from American history, and his portrait of Kiriakou will be revealed at a reception sponsored by the Government Accountability Project (GAP) tomorrow night. Kiriakou will be also be speaking at the event, which will be followed by the premiere of a new composition based on Kiriakou’s experiences by noted jazz pianist Mary Anne Driscoll.
The event details are as follows:
Wednesday, January 23, 8:30 – 10:30 p.m.
Busboys & Poets
2021 14th Street, NW, Washington D.C.
RSVP at dylanb@whistleblower.org.
We hope to see you there!
“If their efficacy becomes the measure of abhorrent acts, all sorts of unspeakable crimes somehow become acceptable. I may have found myself on the wrong side of the government on torture. But I’m on the right side of history … there are things we should not do, even in the name of national security. One of them, I now firmly believe, is torture.” John Kiriakou
