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Judge blocks US sanctions against UN rapporteur Albanese
A Federal Judge has blocked US sanctions imposed on UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, finding that her free speech rights had likely been violated by the Trump administration. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio sanctioned the UN expert on the Israeli-occupied Palestinian Territories for directly engaging with the International Criminal Court to pursue and prosecute nationals of the United States and Israel without their consent, also accusing her of antisemitism and supporting terrorism. An Italian lawyer, Albanese is an outspoken critic of Israel’s actions against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank and refers to a “genocide” in Gaza. The sanctions were legally challenged by Albanese’s husband and daughter, who is a US citizen. The federal judge found that the State Department’s July decision last year to sanction the UN Special Rapporteur, who delivered the 2025 Nelson Mandela Lecture, likely violated her First Amendment rights. US district judge Richard Leon in Washington DC found that Albanese’s residency outside the US did not undercut her protections under constitutional free speech rights and that the Trump administration sought to regulate her speech because of the idea or message she expressed. Leon wrote in his opinion that Albanese had done nothing more than speak and that it was undisputed that her recommendations had no binding effect on the ICC’s actions. Albanese has described sanctions as part of a broader US strategy to weaken international law. A federal judge temporarily blocs U.S. sanctions against Francesca Albanese, a U.N. expert on OPT, finding that the Trump admin likely violated her free-speech rights by imposing the measures after she criticized U.S. ally Israel’s war in Gaza.https://t.co/tYRAUROaTl — Sherwin Bryce-Pease (@sherwiebp) May 14, 2026 Author
Federal judge blocks US sanctions against UN rapporteur Francesca ...
US sanctions imposed on UN expert Francesca Albanese by the Trump administration have been temporarily blocked by a judge.A federal judge has temporarily blocked United States sanctions against Francesca Albanese, a United Nations expert on the occupied Palestinian territory.UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese was sanctioned in July 2025 after she publicly criticised Washington’s policy on Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Family of UN rapporteur Albanese sues Trump administration over sanctionslist 2 of 3Israel systematically torturing Palestinians in custody, says UN expertlist 3 of 3UN expert says world has given Israel ‘licence to torture Palestinians’end of listAlbanese’s husband and daughter filed a lawsuit in February against the Trump administration over the sanctions. It argued that the sanctions were an effort to punish Albanese for bringing attention to Israel’s rights abuses against Palestinians.In his court order on Wednesday, US District Judge Richard Leon granted a preliminary injunction against the sanctions.He found that the Trump administration sought to regulate her speech because of the “idea or message expressed”.“Albanese has done nothing more than speak,” judge Leon wrote in his memorandum opinion. “It is undisputed that her recommendations have no binding effect on the ICC’s actions – they are nothing more than her opinion.”Albanese, who said the US sanctions were “calculated to weaken my mission” when they were first imposed, celebrated the ruling on social media.“Thanks to my daughter and my husband for stepping up to defend me, and everyone who has helped so far,” Albanese said in a statement on X.“Together we are One.”Since 2022, Albanese, a legal scholar, has served as the special rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza, where she monitors human rights abuses against Palestinians. The UN Human Rights Council selected her for the position.The Trump administration sanctioned her last July, calling her “unfit” for her role and accusing her of “biased and malicious activities” against the US and its ally, Israel. Albanese had also recommended that the International Criminal Court (ICC) pursue war crimes prosecutions against Israeli and US nationals.The sanctions barred the Italian lawyer and human rights expert from entering the US, using US banks and payment systems, and prevented anyone else in the US from doing business with her.Albanese’...
US federal judge blocks US sanctions against UN's Francesca Albanese ...
A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked US sanctions against United Nations Special Rapporteur on Palestine Francesca Albanese, saying that Donald Trump's administration likely violated ...
Judge blocks US sanctions against UN official who called for war crimes ...
A federal judge has blocked Trump administration sanctions against United Nations official Francesca Albanese, who was accused of antisemitism over her calls to bring war crimes charges against Israeli officials for their actions in Gaza. This was reported by Politico, according to UNN. Details Secretary of State Marco Rubio imposed sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on ...
