In the States, for the first time, an American federal judge has admitted that the sanctions imposed by the Trump administration on Francesca Albanese risk violating the freedom of expression guaranteed by the First Amendment of the US Constitution. Thus came the temporary suspension of those sanctions, which prohibited her from entering the United States and carrying out banking operations in the country.
A decision, this one by the District Court of Washington, which undoubtedly marks a historical precedent. Freedom of expression also protects international officials with ties to the United States, effectively preventing the US government from using sanctions as a weapon of political censorship.
From 2022 the Albanese is United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories. In 2025 she was attacked by the Republican senator Marco Rubiowho called for sanctions against her. According to the United States, Albanese would have “collaborated directly with the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute citizens of the United States or Israel, without the consent of those two countries,” calling this a “serious violation” of national sovereignty.
In short, her denunciations on the economic and political role of Western powers in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were never liked and she soon ended up under pressure for having “the economics of genocide revealed”, i.e. all the economic and military interests that fuel and profit from the war against Palestinian civilians.
The interim decision by the US judge gives me respite but the battle is not over. ICC judges and Palestinian NGOs remain sanctioned with no recourse to justice. The stakes are incredibly high.
Please sign and share the petition: DEFEND THE DEFENDERS!https://t.co/DiWhUOx0Ks https://t.co/2GM7ihctz9— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) May 14, 2026
What the federal judge ruled
The district judge of Columbia issued the sentence, Richard Leonagainst the measures adopted in July 2025, which may have violated the First Amendment of the American Constitution, directly affecting the freedom of expression of the UN rapporteur and her family.
In the 26-page document (you can find it HERE) with which he decided to temporarily suspend the sanctions, federal judge Leon claims that the US administration may have acted in a discriminatory manner towards Francesca Albanese, targeting her for her public statements on Israel’s actions and the war in the Gaza Strip.
The measures were introduced by the US State Department following an executive order signed by Donald Trump. According to Washington, Albanese promoted a sort of “political and economic war” against the United States and Israel, but the Trump administration also targeted the support expressed by the UN rapporteur for the initiatives of the International Criminal Court against Israeli officials, in a proceeding that the White House had described as a threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.
For Judge Leon, however, the central issue is another: if Albanese had taken a position against the initiatives of the International Criminal Court towards Israeli and US citizens, she probably would not have been sanctioned. Hence the court’s conclusion, according to which the provision would have had the effect of “punishing” and limiting opinions considered inconvenient.
The decision therefore takes on an important weight also on a constitutional level. The federal court has in fact recognized that Albanese, although not living permanently in the United States, can still appeal to the protections provided by the First Amendment of the American Constitution. According to the court, the UN rapporteur maintains “significant” ties with the country, sufficient to have some constitutional rights recognised.
