Introduction
With the arrest of Julian Assange on April 11, 2019 from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, the Wau Holland Foundation («WHS») board of directors decided to collect donations towards the legal defense against the U.S. extradition request. The Foundation takes the view that the trial against Julian Assange should be seen as a test case for freedom of the press and freedom of information. As such, the work in this context is relevant to one of the Foundation’s core tasks (freedom of information), as defined in its statutes.
In the years 2019 to 2021, costs incurred were covered proportionately by advances from the WHS and earmarked donations (bank transfers and PayPal). In February 2022, the WHS received a large donation of 16,593 ETH, which was donated to the Foundation by the digital artist Pak. With these extra funds, the Foundation was able to support and coordinate Julian’s extensive legal defense and the associated public relations work; in addition, it was possible to compensate for advances made by the Foundation.
In accordance with the specifications of the tax office, the ETH account is treated as a foreign currency account, i.e. funds are not converted into euros according to the daily exchange rate, but rather booked in the respective foreign currency. These amounts are only shown in euros once that foreign currency has been exchanged for euros.
The exchange of ETH into euros was only possible three months after our receipt of the donation, because extensive and time-consuming KYC (“Know-Your-Customer”) checks of all Board members were required. The conversion was carried out via an exchange as required at the current exchange rate. Incoming funds (in EUR) from exchanges were transferred directly to the bank account of the project area of the WHS and accounted for as (donation) receipts; in parallel, a separate ETH account (foreign currency account) is maintained.
The WHS’s own costs (e.g. travel, expenses, IT infrastructure and office costs) are covered by the administrative fee of 5% of donations received and are not itemized separately in this report. The board of the WHS has worked exclusively on a voluntary basis during the entire project period, meaning that no additional remuneration / compensation was paid toward the significant amount of time that board members spent on direct coordination work.
By resolution of the WHS board, the project was completed on 31 July 2024, but the final processing and follow-up work will continue until the end of 2024. This report is based on the figures recorded for accounting purposes up to 26 November 2024, which have not yet been fully recognized / allocated.
The WHS is bound to use the ETH donation exclusively in accordance with the will of the donor (Pak) in the Julian Assange project. The Foundation must decide about the remaining funds in cooperation with tax lawyers, the tax office, and the supervisory authority («Stiftungsaufsicht»).
Summary
Income / Expenses in EUR
| Year | Expenses | Income | Current balance (*) |
| 2019 | 80.388 | 24.192 | -56.196 |
| 2020 | 399.436 | 314.748 | -140.884 |
| 2021 | 194.005 | 63.189 | -271.700 |
| 2022 | 4.895.790 | 5.352.670 | 185.180 |
| 2023 | 6.930.373 | 8.965.675 | 2.220.481 |
| 2024 | 5.834.074 | 5.322.290 | 1.708.698 |
(*) A negative balance is covered by WHS advances from free reserves; a positive balance corresponds to the “credit balance” of the project in the internal settlement.
A total of EUR 18,334,066 was spent, of which EUR 14,046,706 was for legal fees and court costs and EUR 4,287,360 for public relations work.
ETH account (February 2022 to November, 26th 2024)
- Income: 16.593,0343 ETH
- Allocation WHS: 0.0343 ETH
- Donation from Pak: 16,593.0000 ETH
- Expenses: 12,911.4350 ETH
- Exchange: 11,337.0000 ETH
- Used: 1,574.4350 ETH
- Account balance: 3,681.5993 ETH
