Federal judge blocks US sanctions against UN expert on Palestinian territories 

By Karen Sloan

May ‌13 (Reuters) - A ​federal ​judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked U.S. sanctions against Francesca Albanese, a U.N. ‌expert on the Palestinian territories, finding that ⁠the Trump administration likely violated her free-speech rights ‌by imposing the measures ‌after she criticized U.S. ally Israel’s war in Gaza.

The sanctions barred her from entering ​the U.S. and banking there. Albanese, an Italian lawyer who is U.N. 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 U.S. citizen, ‌sued the Trump administration in February, alleging that the U.S. sanctions are "effectively ⁠debanking her and making it nearly impossible to meet the needs of her daily life.”

• U.S. ⁠District Judge Richard Leon in Washington found that Albanese’s ​residency outside the U.S. does not undercut her protections under the First Amendment of the U.S. 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 ​U.S. strategy to weaken international accountability mechanisms.

(Reporting by Karen Sloan; Editing by Cynthia ‌Osterman)

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