A US federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked American sanctions against Francesca Albanese, a UN expert on the Palestinians, claiming Donald Trump’s 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. As UN special rapporteur on the West Bank and Gaza, she has recommended the International Criminal Court pursue war crimes prosecutions against Israeli and American nationals.
The sanctions bar her from entering the US and banking there. Albanese has said the sanctions have been devastating, barring her from work opportunities and everyday financial transactions.
Albanese’s husband and their US-born underage daughter, who is an American 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.”
The lawsuit claimed the sanctions violate First Amendment free speech protections, bar the family from accessing its home in an unreasonable seizure under the Fourth Amendment, and violate Fifth Amendment due process rights.
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US District Judge Richard Leon ruled Wednesday in Washington that Albanese’s residency outside the US does not undercut her protections under the First Amendment of the US Constitution and that the Trump administration had sought to regulate her speech because of the “idea or message expressed.”
UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese (2ndL), Swedish activist of Global Sumud Flotilla, Greta Thunberg (C) and Brazilian activist Thiago Avila (R) march during an anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian demonstration as part of the nationwide general strike, in Genoa on November 28, 2025 (Piero CRUCIATTI / AFP)
“Protecting the freedom of speech is ‘always’ in the public interest,” Leon wrote in an opinion accompanying the order.
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.”
BREAKING! US court ha suspended the US sanctions against me!
As the judge says: “Protecting the Freedom of speech is always just the public interest”.
Thanks to my daughter and my husband for stepping up to defend me, and everyone who has helped so far.
Together we are One. pic.twitter.com/z6L3tb7Esp
— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) May 13, 2026
In her role as an independent investigator for the UN, Albanese is supposed to act as an objective observer, but is accused of functioning more as an anti-Israel activist. She has parlayed her position into celebrity status, speaking at conferences and in the media, featuring in a documentary film, publishing popular books and garnering more than 1 million followers on social media.
When announcing the sanctions last year, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the step against Albanese was taken in light of “her illegitimate and shameful efforts to prompt International Criminal Court action against US and Israeli officials, companies and executives.”
“Albanese’s campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel will no longer be tolerated. We will always stand by our partners in their right to self-defense,” Rubio tweeted.
He added that the US “will continue to take whatever actions we deem necessary to respond to lawfare and protect our sovereignty and that of our allies.”
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