Trump officials likely violated Francesca Albanese’s rights by imposing measures after she criticized Israel, says judge
A federal judge on Wednesday 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 criticized US ally Israel’s war on Gaza.
The sanctions barred her from entering the US 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 US nationals.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio imposed the sanctions on Albanese in July 2025, following an executive order by Trump authorizing such action against individuals involved with the ICC’s investigation of Israel’s actions in Gaza.
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”.
