US Court Blocks Sanctions Against UN Rights Expert Albanese

Washington, MINA – A US court has suspended sanctions imposed on UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, ruling that the Trump administration had likely violated her right to free speech by imposing the measures after she criticized what she described as the genocide war in Gaza.

Federal Judge Richard Leon ruled in Washington that Albanese’s residence outside the United States did not reduce the protections granted to her under the First Amendment of the US Constitution. He said the Trump administration had sought to regulate her speech because of the “idea or message expressed.”

Commenting on the ruling, Albanese said: “Thanks to my daughter and my husband for standing by me to defend me, and to everyone who has helped me so far. Together we are one.”

Albanese had previously described the sanctions as part of a broader US strategy aimed at weakening “international accountability mechanisms.” The sanctions prevented her from entering the United States or carrying out any banking transactions there.

Read Also: Macron Convenes Defense Council Ahead of French Nationwide Protests

Albanese’s husband and daughter, who is a US citizen, filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in February, saying the sanctions had “effectively deprived her of banking services and made meeting her daily living needs nearly impossible.”[]

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)

Read Also: Democrat Abdul El-Sayed Becomes First Muslim Elected to US Senate