Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“A federal judge has temporarily blocked United States sanctions against Francesca Albanese, a United Nations expert on the occupied Palestinian territory. UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese was sanctioned in July 2025 after she publicly criticised Washington’s policy on Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza. Albanese’s husband and daughter filed a lawsuit in February against the Trump administration over the sanctions. It argued that the sanctions were an effort to punish Albanese for bringing attention to Israel’s rights abuses against Palestinians. In his court order on Wednesday, US District Judge Richard Leon granted a preliminary injunction against the sanctions. He found that the Trump administration sought to regulate her speech because of the ‘idea or message expressed.'” (05/14/26)