Jake Johnson is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.
A federal judge in Washington, DC on Wednesday temporarily blocked Trump administration sanctions targeting United Nations Palestine expert Francesca Albanese, ruling that the punitive measures violated her First Amendment rights.
'Albanese has done nothing more than speak! ' wrote US District Judge Richard Leon, a George W. Bush appointee, in his 26-page decision granting a preliminary injunction against the sanctions, which US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced last summer.
Rubio said the sanctions, which barred the UN expert from entering the US and banking in the country, were justified because 'Albanese has directly engaged with the International Criminal Court in efforts to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute nationals of the United States or Israel, without the consent of those two countries.
'But Leon wrote in his ruling that 'it is undisputed that her recommendations have no binding effect on the ICC's actions—they are nothing more than her opinion. 'The decision came in response to a lawsuit filed in February by Albanese's husband and her daughter, who is a US citizen. They argued the US sanctions against Albanese were 'effectively debanking her and making it nearly impossible to meet the needs of her daily life.
'Albanese is an Italian national who currently lives with family in Tunisia. Leon wrote in his ruling that 'while the speech at issue occurred outside the United States, defendants have responded by taking action against Albanese's extensive connections to the United States—including Albanese's property within the United States and her ability to maintain professional and personal connections within the United States—because of her speech.
''Accordingly, Albanese may claim the protection of the First Amendment to challenge defendants' actions,' the judge continued. Albanese, who has vocally condemned Israel's genocide in Gaza and the countries and private corporations that have been complicit, welcomed Leon's ruling, writing in a social media post that 'the interim decision by the US judge gives me respite.
''But the battle is not over,' she added. 'ICC judges and Palestinian NGOs remain sanctioned with no recourse to justice. The stakes are incredibly high.
'Dylan Williams, vice president for government affairs at the US-based Center for International Policy, called Leon's ruling 'the right decision' and said Albanese 'was wrongly sanctioned for constitutionally protected speech. ''War criminals should be held accountable for their crimes,' Williams wrote on social media. 'Making it a crime to say that is what is illegal. We must not sacrifice our rights or the rule of law for Israel. '
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