ICC chief prosecutor accused of sexual misconduct
Karim Khan allegedly warned accuser her complaint could jeopardise Gaza war probe; arrest warrant timing now under scrutiny amid claims of misconduct cover-up
The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has been accused of repeated “nonconsensual sex acts” against a member of his team and later told her that accusing him would jeopardise the ICC’s investigation into the Gaza War.
The accusations against Karim Khan, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, emerged last year, with the court announcing in November that an external investigation was being launched into his conduct.
However, a report published by the Wall Street Journal has provided additional detail relating to these accusations, including the claim that the chief prosecutor’s announcement that he would seek arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant – and three senior Hamas officials – came shortly after he became aware that sexual misconduct allegations had been officially made against him.
Khan’s accuser, believed to be a Malaysian lawyer in her 30s, reportedly described Khan as having carried out “non-consensual sex acts” towards her on multiple occasions.
According to the report, the woman told investigators that Khan had suggested that any accusation she made against him could affect the ICC’s investigation into Gaza.
She alleged that he told her to “think about the Palestinian arrest warrants”, which had delayed her decision to file an official complaint. However, she said she had spoken to the ICC’s Internal Investigation Team in early May 2024. Khan’s public announcement that he would seek arrest warrants came two weeks later.
The WSJ report suggests that prior to his public announcement, a trip to Israel and Gaza which the chief prosecutor had previously said was important in relation to his decision about arrest warrants had been abruptly cancelled.
Lawyers for Khan told the WSJ that “it is categorically untrue that he has engaged in sexual misconduct of any kind”. They also denied any connection between the allegations made against him and his decision to request the Israeli and Hamas arrest warrants.
Khan pointed to the decision by ICC judges to approve the arrest warrants as proof that they “met the rigorous legal threshold required.”
When the ICC officially approved the arrest warrants in November 2024, the Israeli Prime Ministers’ office alleged that this had come about because of Khan’s efforts to “save his skin from the serious charges against him for sexual harassment”.
In April of this year Reuters reported that Khan had been accused of retaliating against members of ICC staff who had either reported the allegations regarding his conduct or had criticised his response to those allegations, citing a number of demotions. Legal representatives for Khan denied that any such “retaliatory behaviour” had taken place.
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