ICC prosecutor Khan removed over ‘politicised’ sex abuse claims: Sources
Member states of the International Criminal Court (ICC) have voted to dismiss Karim Khan as prosecutor, according to diplomatic sources. Various news agencies reported late
Member states of the International Criminal Court (ICC) have voted to dismiss Karim Khan as prosecutor, according to diplomatic sources. Various news agencies reported late on Friday that a majority of the court’s 125 member states voted in favour of the prosecutor’s removal. Khan’s team insists it is a politicised case in reaction to his pursuit of an arrest warrant against Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu. The vote, which took place nearly two years after sexual misconduct allegations against Khan first emerged, came amid rising pressure on the ICC. The prosecutor oversaw the issue of warrants for top Israeli officials over the war in Gaza and investigations into United States personnel in Afghanistan.
The Trump administration has already imposed sanctions on Khan and a dozen other ICC staff in retaliation, and recently declared it would seek to destroy the ICC. The 56-year-old barrister was accused of sexually harassing a junior colleague who worked as his assistant. Khan’s accuser, named only as Sarah, recently told CNN that Khan had shown escalating behaviour of touching and groping her, recounting a time she said he touched her intimately while she was pretending to be asleep. Khan has denied any wrongdoing and his lawyers have called the process that led to the vote unlawful, procedurally unfair and unsupported by evidence.
The ICC had already suspended Khan from his official duties, a decision based on a United Nations investigative report, the advice of an ad hoc panel of judicial experts, and written submissions, according to the ICC’s oversight body. Khan was leading probes into multiple conflicts, but his decision in 2024 to seek arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, prompted an intense backlash from governments and advocacy groups. European Union chief diplomat Josep Borrell wrote in an editorial that the case against Khan is “obviously part of a larger offensive against the ICC”.
Khan’s dismissal immediately triggers the election process for a new ICC prosecutor, although a vote is not expected before next year. His removal will have no immediate impact on the arrest warrants issued in 2024 for Netanyahu and Gallant for crimes against humanity, which can only be withdrawn by ICC judges.
The BriefWire