WASHINGTON – A federal judge blocked on Friday 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’s February 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.