US District Judge Richard Leon on Wednesday temporarily blocked US sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Judge Leon made preliminary findings that President Donald Trump’s administration likely violated Albanese’s right to free speech by imposing sanctions against her. In his 26-page decision, he discussed the applicability of the First Amendment to Albanese, including an extensive discussion of the significance of free expression. He wrote:

Albanese has done nothing more than speak! It is undisputed that her recommendations have no binding effect on the ICC’s [International Criminal Court] actions–they are nothing more than her opinion … Finally, protecting the freedom of speech is ‘always’ in the public interest … Indeed, the ‘proudest boast’ of our First Amendment is that it protects the freedom to express even ‘the thought that we hate.’ Enough said.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which is the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization in the US, welcomed the ruling. CAIR Deputy Executive Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell stated, “Ms. Albanese is guilty of nothing except doing her job: exposing and challenging human rights abuses.”

Some organizations, including UN Watch, a non-governmental organization that is not affiliated with the UN, have taken a different position. Executive Director Hillel Neuer stressed that this is a preliminary injunction, and not a final ruling nor a “moral vindication” of Albanese’s statements or conduct.

A core part of the campaigns against Albanese is grounded in allegations that her perspectives on Israel are antisemitic. However, in 2024, 50 Jewish organizations co-published a statement expressing their support for Albanese and her “exceptional moral steadfastness,” writing:

As Jews committed to justice, equality, and universal human rights, we strongly condemn the shameful diplomatic and military support that many Western governments … have offered to Israel’s ongoing campaign of mass killings of Palestinian civilians and its barbaric destruction of all foundations of Palestinian life in Gaza. By extension, we condemn the escalating instrumentalization of antisemitism in this regard, specifically through the highly controversial IHRA definition … which is also being weaponized against Ms. Albanese and the United Nations.

The sanctions were imposed against the Italian lawyer in July 2025 in response to her statements on Israel’s conduct in Gaza, including a recommendation for the ICC to pursue war-crimes prosecution. She has also delivered her findings in reports to the UN.

The effects are documented as far-reaching. In February 2026, her family filed a lawsuit in the district court in Washington. Their submissions enumerate the impacts, including being blocked from their property, all of Albanese’s accounts being frozen, her health insurance being halted, and her husband, a World Bank economist, being prevented from attending the World Bank Headquarters. Further, her daughter is a US citizen who is now also unable to return home.

Other figures have faced similar sanctions throughout 2025 for speaking or acting against the US and Israel, including four ICC judges in June, two additional ICC judges and two prosecutors in August, and two more ICC judges in December.