US Federal Judge Blocks Sanctions Against UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese

US District Judge Richard Leon on May 13, 2026 granted a preliminary injunction blocking sanctions against UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, finding the Trump administration likely violated her First Amendment rights. Albanese was sanctioned in July 2025 after publishing a June 30, 2025 report naming over 60 companies including Google, Amazon, and Microsoft as complicit in genocide in Gaza. The sanctions barred her from entering the United States and banking there.

US sanctions against Albanese

• ▪As a result of the US sanctions, Francesca Albanese was barred from entering the United States and banking there
• ▪The civil complaint argued that the Trump administration unreasonably seized Francesca Albanese's property without due process, violated sanctions laws, and effectively debanked her
• ▪Massimiliano Cali, Francesca Albanese's husband and a senior economist for the World Bank in Tunisia, sued the Trump administration on behalf of himself, Albanese, and their daughter over sanctions imposed on Albanese
• ▪Francesca Albanese was sanctioned by the United States in July 2025 following her public criticism of Israel's war on Gaza

Federal court ruling

• ▪US District Judge Richard Leon on May 13, 2026 temporarily blocked US sanctions against UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine Francesca Albanese
• ▪US District Judge Richard Leon said the Trump administration likely violated Francesca Albanese's free-speech rights
• ▪US District Judge Richard Leon granted a preliminary injunction against the sanctions on Francesca Albanese on May 13, 2026
• ▪US District Judge Richard Leon found that the Trump administration sought to regulate Francesca Albanese's speech because of the idea or message expressed
• ▪US District Judge Richard Leon found that Francesca Albanese's residency outside the US does not undercut her protections under the First Amendment of the US Constitution

Albanese's Gaza report

• ▪Francesca Albanese's June 30, 2025 report called on United Nations member states to pursue sanctions and asset freezes
• ▪Francesca Albanese's June 30, 2025 report called for the International Criminal Court and national judicial systems to pursue investigations and prosecute corporate executives and companies
• ▪Francesca Albanese published a report on June 30, 2025 that named over 60 companies, including Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, which she said were involved in the transformation of Israel's economy of occupation to an economy of genocide

International support responses

• ▪Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on May 7, 2026 awarded the Order of Civil Merit to UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese
• ▪Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on May 6, 2026 formally requested the European Commission to activate the EU's Blocking Statute to shield the International Criminal Court and the United Nations from US sanctions

Perspective of Spain and European allies

• ▪Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on May 7, 2026 awarded the Order of Civil Merit to UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese
• ▪Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on May 6, 2026 formally requested the European Commission to activate the EU's Blocking Statute to shield the International Criminal Court and the United Nations from US sanctions