US lifts sanctions on Francesca Albanese

US lifts sanctions on Francesca Albanese The US has lifted sanctions against the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, after a federal judge found that the Trump administration likely violated her free speech rights. The US Treasury Department confirmed the removal of Albanese's name from its sanctions list in an update on its website on Wednesday, under the heading “International Criminal Court-related Designation Removal”. The move came a week after US district judge Richard Leon  issued a temporary injunction  against the sanctions, finding that the Trump administration had sought to regulate Albanese's speech because of the "idea or message expressed". In an opinion granting the preliminary injunction, Leon said "protecting the freedom of speech is 'always' in the public interest". The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed in February by Albanese's husband, Massimiliano Cali, a senior economist for the World Bank in  Tunisia , which argued that the measures were intended as a punishment for her public criticism of  Israel 's  genocide in Gaza . Read more:  US lifts sanctions on Francesca Albanese Francesca Albanese at a news conference in Geneva on the human rights situation in Gaza, on 15 September 2025 (AFP)

Original source: Middle East Eye