ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan
An ICC staff member and a former colleague who have accused International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan of sexual misconduct have spoken publicly about their allegations in televised interviews, days before member states vote on whether he should remain in office. In an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour on Thursday, an ICC staff member identified as Sarah spoke publicly for the first time about her claims. The Malaysian lawyer, who worked as Khan’s special assistant between 2023 and 2024, alleged that his behaviour escalated over time, gradually breaching professional and personal boundaries before culminating in an alleged assault during an official trip to Colombia.Sarah claimed that Khan entered her hotel room while she was pretending to be asleep and sexually assaulted her. Khan has denied the allegation.She also dismissed suggestions that her complaint was influenced by external actors or linked to politically sensitive cases handled by the court.“If ever there was even a hint of suspicion that I was a state agent of any kind, I would have been dismissed,” Sarah told CNN. “My complaint was because of what happened to me, not for any other reason.” A second woman, identified by the pseudonym Patricia, described alleged incidents dating back to 2009, when she worked as an intern for Khan earlier in his career. She said she was often required to work at his home, where she experienced repeated unwanted physical contact and sexual advances. Khan has denied those claims as well. Responding on Khan’s behalf, his lawyer Sareta Ashraph, said the allegations were not new and that her client continues to reject them “in their entirety.” She argued that the evidence presented publicly does not reflect the full body of material available to those reviewing the case and said the overall evidentiary record presents a different picture.The interviews aired less than a week before representatives from the ICC’s 125 member states were due to meet at the United Nations headquarters in New York for an unprecedented vote on whether Khan should be removed from office.Last month, the executive committee of the ICC’s governing body suspended Khan after concluding that he had committed serious misconduct in connection with Sarah’s allegations. The matter was referred to member states for a final decision.Khan’s legal team has maintained that the disciplinary proceedings are politically motivated and has described the process as procedurally unfair. Ashraph also questioned the timing of the interviews, noting they were broadcast shortly before the vote despite member states already having access to the evidence and testimony gathered during the investigation.Khan, who was elected in 2021 to a nine-year term, leads the ICC’s prosecution division, which is responsible for investigating and prosecuting cases involving alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.The allegations first became public in 2024 and have continued to overshadow his tenure. Khan’s representatives have previously suggested the claims were intended to undermine him following his decision to seek arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the country’s then defence minister.However, documents reviewed by The Guardian indicate that the disciplinary process found no evidence to support claims that Sarah was acting on behalf of third parties or intelligence agencies.
