The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, is alleged to have responded to a formal complaint of sexual misconduct by attempting to persuade the complainant to deny her claims, according to sources who spoke to The Guardian.
Several ICC staff familiar with the allegations against Khan report that he, along with another close associate, repeatedly urged the woman to retract her accusations about his behavior towards her.
The reported efforts to discourage the woman from formally pursuing her claims allegedly took place through phone calls and in-person conversations, following Khan’s discovery that ICC authorities had been informed of the allegations, according to four sources who spoke to The Guardian.
When approached by The Guardian for comment, Khan denied urging the woman to withdraw any allegations.
His lawyers stated, “Our client denies the whole of the allegations and we are most concerned that the exposure of a confidential and closed internal matter is designed to undermine his high-profile ongoing work at a delicate time.”
In response to recent media reports on the alleged misconduct, Khan publicly refuted the accusations, stating that he and the court had been “subject to a wide range of attacks and threats.” In anonymous briefings, ICC officials close to Khan have hinted that he may be the target of a smear campaign.
“There is no truth to suggestions of such misconduct,” Khan said in his statement. “I have worked in diverse contexts for 30 years and there has never been such a complaint lodged against me by anyone.”
The woman central to the allegations – described by colleagues as a respected lawyer in her 30s who worked directly with Khan – has not commented publicly. However, sources familiar with the situation said she resisted alleged requests to retract her claims. According to these sources, she believed the attempts by Khan and another ICC official were aimed at pressuring her to deny the allegations against him.
The allegations have surfaced during a sensitive time for the ICC, as a panel of three ICC judges is currently considering requests from Khan to issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in Gaza.
In August, Khan pressed the pretrial chamber to issue an urgent decision, reaffirming that the court has jurisdiction to investigate Israeli citizens. Last month, he urged the judges to expedite the decision.
Since Israel is not a member of the ICC, even if arrest warrants are issued, Netanyahu and Gallant are not at immediate risk of prosecution but the threat of arrest could complicate their international travel.
Critics have stated that Khan learned of the allegations weeks before his May request for the arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant, and three Hamas leaders.
While Khan stopped short of directly accusing Israel of being behind the allegations, his public denial mentioned that he and the ICC have been the targets of “a wide range of recent attacks and threats” in recent months.
However, a months-long investigation by The Guardian found no evidence of Israeli or other foreign involvement in the core allegations against Khan.