A US federal judge temporarily blocked US sanctions against Francesca Albanese, a UN expert on the Palestinian territories, finding that the Trump administration likely violated her free-speech rights by imposing the measures after she criticised US ally Israel’s war in Gaza.

The sanctions barred her from entering the United States and banking there.

Albanese, an Italian lawyer who is UN special rapporteur on the Israel-occupied Palestinian territories, 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 the 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 found that Albanese’s residency outside the United States does not undercut her protections under the First Amendment of the constitution and that the Trump administration sought to regulate her speech because of the "idea or message expressed”.

Albanese has described sanctions as part of a broader US strategy to weaken international accountability mechanisms. (Reuters)


Edited by Tony Sabine