UN Rapporteur's Family Sues Over Sanctions on Israel Criticism

The family of United Nations Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese filed a lawsuit on Thursday against the Trump administration, challenging U.S. sanctions imposed on her last July for her criticism of Israel's actions in Gaza and support for International Criminal Court investigations. The civil complaint, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, was brought by Albanese's husband, Massimiliano Cali, and their minor daughter, a U.S. citizen, on behalf of the family. Albanese, an Italian human rights lawyer, and her husband are also Italian citizens.

The lawsuit argues that the sanctions violate Albanese's First Amendment rights to free speech, as well as her Fourth and Fifth Amendment protections against unreasonable seizures and deprivations without due process. It contends that the penalties were imposed to punish her for expressing views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the ICC's work, including arrest warrants issued against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes in Gaza. "Francesca's expression of her views about the facts as she has found them in the Israeli-Palestinian...