Federal judge SAD temporarily blocked the sanctions imposed by the US administration on the special rapporteur of the United Nations for the state of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesci Albanese.
It was sanctioned in July 2025 because it criticized Washington's policy regarding Israel's military aggression against the Palestinians in Gaza. They called her incompetent and accused her of being biased and malicious against the US and Israel.
Albanese recommended that the International Criminal Court (ICC) initiate war crimes proceedings against Israeli and American citizens.
The sanctions include banning her from entering the US, using US banks and payment systems, and preventing anyone in the US from doing business with her.
Her husband and daughter, a US citizen, filed a lawsuit against US President Donald Trump's administration in February over the sanctions, claiming it was an attempt to punish Albanese for drawing attention to Israel's rights violations against Palestinians.
The administration wanted to control her speech
They added in the lawsuit that the U.S. sanctions "have disabled her work and made it nearly impossible for her to meet the basic needs of daily life."
US Judge Richard Leon temporarily halted the sanctions.
The judge found that the administration wanted to control her speech because of the "idea or message it conveyed."
"Albanese did nothing but talk. It is not disputed that her suggestions have no binding effect on the ICC's actions, they are merely her opinion," Judge Leon wrote in the decision.
She posted on IX where she thanked her husband and daughter and everyone who helped and wrote "we are together as one".
Al Jazeera reminds Al Jazeera that Albanese has been in office at the UN since 2022, and was elected by the UN Human Rights Council.
Source: Beta
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