A federal judge temporarily blocks US sanctions against Francesca Albanese, a UN expert on the Palestinian territories, claiming the Trump administration likely violated her free-speech rights.
Albanese, who has long been accused of antisemitism and extremist rhetoric against Israel, was sanctioned by the Trump administration last year for alleged “political and economic warfare” against the US and Israel.
The sanctions bar her from entering the US and banking there. Albanese, an Italian lawyer who is UN special rapporteur on the West Bank and Gaza, recommended the International Criminal Court pursue war-crimes prosecutions against Israeli and American nationals.
Albanese’s husband and daughter, who is a US citizen, sued the Trump administration in February, alleging that the US sanctions are “effectively debanking her and making it nearly impossible to meet the needs of her daily life.”
US District Judge Richard Leon in Washington says Albanese’s residency outside the US does not undercut her protections under the First Amendment of the US Constitution and that the Trump administration sought to regulate her speech because of the “idea or message expressed.”
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