# Clive Stafford Smith > **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou. > > Cite as: "Clive Stafford Smith," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/clive-stafford-smith/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *The British human rights lawyer who represents Aafia Siddiqui, described by John Kiriakou as a man who has never charged a client a dollar in his life, lives on donations, holds an OBE for his human rights work, and represented sixty-six Guantanamo detainees, securing the release of every one of them.* - **Nationality:** British - **Work:** Human rights law - **Honour:** Member of the Order of the British Empire, for his human rights work - **Fees charged:** 'He has never charged a client a single dollar in all of his life' - **How he lives:** On donations - **Guantanamo detainees represented:** 66 - **Of whom released:** All 66 - **Current client:** Aafia Siddiqui - **Kiriakou''s summary:** 'Listen to what an awesome guy he is' **Clive Stafford Smith** is the British human rights lawyer who represents [Aafia Siddiqui](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/aafia-siddiqui), and whom [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) introduced to his audience in September 2025 after Stafford Smith had spent that morning at Kiriakou's house recording an episode of his Deep Focus podcast on the case.[1] ## What Kiriakou says about him *"Listen to what an awesome guy he is,"* Kiriakou said before listing the reasons. Stafford Smith is *"a member of the Order of the British Empire"*, an honour given, in Kiriakou's account, *"because of the work that he's done on human rights."*[2] The two facts Kiriakou dwells on are financial and statistical. *"He has never charged a client a single dollar in all of his life. He just lives on donations."* And: *"He's represented 66 [Guantanamo](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/guantanamo-bay) detainees and he's gotten every one of them released. All 66."*[2] ## The Siddiqui case It is Stafford Smith who supplied Kiriakou with most of what he now says about [Siddiqui](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/aafia-siddiqui): the sentence being the longest ever handed down in the United States for an attempted murder in which no weapon was discharged; the photograph showing the bullet holes in the tent canvas weeks before she was caught; and [Hamid Karzai](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/hamid-karzai)'s admission about what became of her children.[3][4][5] It was Stafford Smith who travelled to Afghanistan, befriended the Taliban government, and had them instruct the deposed Karzai to receive him; who found the two older children and reunited them with Siddiqui's sister; and who registered the sister's DNA with the commercial ancestry databases and had the missing infant's photograph aged by artificial intelligence, in the hope that an eighteen-year-old somewhere will recognise himself.[6][5][7][8] He is suing [the CIA](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/cia) and the FBI knowing he will lose both, on the theory that the publicity is the remedy.[8] ## The letters Stafford Smith told Kiriakou that Siddiqui, held [in solitary confinement](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/solitary-confinement) since 2008, still responds to letters, and that he will deliver them to her. Kiriakou passed on the address on air.[9][2][10] His assessment of her prospects is the bleak one Kiriakou repeats without softening: *"her only hope is that President Trump commutes her sentence and lets her go home to Pakistan."*[10] ## See also - [Aafia Siddiqui](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/aafia-siddiqui) - [Guantanamo Bay](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/guantanamo-bay) - [Hamid Karzai](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/hamid-karzai) - [Solitary confinement](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/solitary-confinement) - [Human Rights Watch](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/human-rights-watch) ## Sources 1. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 45:20. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=2720s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 2. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 53:15. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=3195s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 3. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 47:59. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=2879s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 4. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 48:29. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=2909s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 5. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 50:03. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=3003s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 6. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 49:33. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=2973s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 7. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 51:06. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=3066s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 8. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 51:37. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=3097s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 9. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 52:41. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=3161s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 10. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-09-06), at 53:45. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_K7Ab0PsdM&t=3225s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-09-06-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/clive-stafford-smith/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt