The Wau Holland Foundation is pleased to announce [1] that the inaugural recipient of the new international Ellsberg Whistleblower Award is: Mr. Daniel Everette Hale. Mr. Hale is a former U.S. Air Force intelligence analyst who was the alleged source of material for a series in The Intercept called “The Drone Papers,” and subject of the award-winning documentary “National Bird” [2].
In July 2021, Mr. Hale had been sentenced to 45 months in prison [3]. At his sentencing hearing, Mr. Hale poignantly said to Judge Liam O’Grady, “Please, your Honour, forgive me for taking papers instead of human lives.” He was finally released from prison into home confinement as of February 2024 [4].
The award is named in honour of world-renowned whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, who famously leaked the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times in 1971. He passed away on June 16th 2023 at the age of 92.
“He became a hero to millions for his unwavering anti-war activism and decades-long fight to abolish nuclear weapons, but his long-term legacy may lie with the countless whistleblowers whom he inspired to follow in his footsteps,” wrote the Freedom of the Press Foundation [5], an organisation which Mr. Ellsberg co-founded.
As part of Project Area 7: Moral Courage [6], the Wau Holland Foundation is not only a founding organisation and executive board member, responsible for overseeing the Ellsberg Whistleblower Award, but we are also a core funder [7], along with the Reva and David Logan Foundation, of the Berlin-based non-profit Whistlebower Network (WBN).
“The award will be presented to individuals and organizations worldwide whose efforts have helped disclose information that significantly enhances free public or scientific debate, strengthening the public’s right to know and thus democracy. Their revelations will give the public the chance to participate in debates and decision-making processes on key issues that often affect society as a whole.”
Read more about the 2024 prize recipient here: https://ellsberg-award.org/the-ellsberg-whistleblower-award/awardee-2024/
[2] https://nationalbirdfilm.com/
[3] https://standwithdanielhale.org
[4] https://thedissenter.org/drone-whistleblower-cmu-finally-released-from-prison/
[5] https://freedom.press/about/announcements/daniel-ellsberg-an-american-hero-for-the-ages-1931-2023/
