US lifts sanctions on UN expert Francesca Albanese – POLITICO

Francesca Albanese, the Italian lawyer serving as the United Nations special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories, has been removed from the U.S. sanctions blacklist after a federal court intervened against the Trump administration’s decision.

A notice from the U.S. Treasury Department confirmed the sanctions were lifted after Albanese had spent months effectively cut off from the U.S. financial system following penalties imposed earlier this year.

The reversal comes one week after a federal judge temporarily blocked the sanctions, finding the U.S. administration likely violated Albanese’s constitutional free-speech protections by targeting her after repeated criticism of Israel for its military actions in Gaza.