WASHINGTON - A federal judge blocked on Friday (July 18) the enforcement of US President Donald Trump's executive order targeting those who work with the International Criminal Court.

The ruling follows an April lawsuit by two human rights advocates challenging Trump on Feb 6 order authorizing potentially far-reaching economic and travel sanctions on people who work on ICC investigations of US citizens or US allies, such as Israel.

In her ruling, US District Judge Nancy Torresen called the executive order an unconstitutional infringement on free speech.

"The executive order appears to restrict substantially more speech than necessary to further that end," she wrote.

"The executive order broadly prohibits any speech-based services that benefit the prosecutor, regardless of whether those beneficial services relate to an ICC investigation of the United States, Israel, or another US ally."

The White House and the ICC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The executive order imposed sanctions on ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan, who is British. The US treasury department's Office of Foreign Assets Control also place him on a registry of sanctioned individuals and entities.

US citizens who provide services for the benefit of Khan or other sanctioned individuals could face civil and criminal penalties, according to the order, which has been condemned by the ICC and dozens of countries.

Source: Reuters