ICC to probe prosecutor who sought arrest of Netanyahu and Putin

Karim Khan, who brought war crime charges against the Israeli PM and Russian leader, is reportedly under a sexual abuse investigation.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) will launch an external investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against its top prosecutor, Karim Khan, rekindling a case the body’s internal watchdog had previously dropped within days, Reuters and the Associated Press have reported.

According to AP, the case initially surfaced in May, a few weeks before Khan sought arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and now-dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Two ICC employees with whom the supposed victim confided have come forward to claim that Khan had subjected the woman to sexual harassment, AP wrote on Friday. The woman was interviewed by the internal watchdog, but declined to lodge a formal complaint due to distrust of the body, AP said.

The allegations of sexual abuse were reported to the court’s governing body, the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) last month. At the time, Khan, who denied any wrongdoing, asked the court’s own internal oversight mechanism to oversee the probe.

This week, an internal document was sent to member states suggesting that Khan temporarily step down from his post for the duration of the inquiry, according to a Reuters report on Friday. The agency noted it was unclear whether the prosecutor has been formally asked to do so.

In late May, British newspaper The Guardian teamed up with Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and Hebrew-language outlet Local Call to report on an alleged years-long Israeli spying and intimidation campaign against the ICC.

Khan was under surveillance and Netanyahu allegedly knew in advance that the prosecutor was intending to seek arrest warrants against himself and Gallant, despite “tremendous pressure from the United States,” The Guardian wrote. The warrant against the Netanyahu and Gallant were the culmination of a lengthy case the ICC has been building against Israel since Palestine joined the court in 2015, which Israeli officials considered a “war,” according to The Guardian.

Israeli intelligence reportedly captured ICC communications, including those of Khan and his predecessor, Fatou Bensouda. Within weeks of Bensouda opening up a preliminary investigation into “the situation in Palestine,” the then-prosecutor suffered an intimidation attempt the ICC considered to be tied to Israel, sources familiar with the investigation told The Guardian.

In March 2023, the ICC, with Khan as its chief prosecutor, issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova for their alleged involvement in the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia. Moscow called the order null and void, saying the children had been evacuated for safety reasons and could be returned to their parents or guardians upon request.