{"id":853891,"date":"2026-06-09T00:11:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T00:11:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/853891\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T00:11:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T00:11:14","slug":"iccs-chief-prosecutor-suspended-pending-decision-on-sexual-misconduct-allegations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/853891\/","title":{"rendered":"ICC’s chief prosecutor suspended pending decision on sexual misconduct allegations"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) \u2014 In an unprecedented move, the embattled chief prosecutor<\/a> of the International Criminal Court was suspended from his duties late Monday, after the court\u2019s oversight body referred British barrister Karim Khan for disciplinary proceedings.<\/p>\n

The 56-year-old is facing allegations of sexual misconduct with a female aide, in a scandal that has dragged on for more than two years. He has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

A final decision on Khan\u2019s fate is now up to the Assembly of States Parties, the body that oversees the ICC, which will hold a special session to decide if Khan can remain in his job at the global court.<\/p>\n

The Bureau of the Assembly of States parties \u2014 the executive committee of the court\u2019s oversight body \u2014 said in a statement that it based its decision \u201con the report of an investigation undertaken by the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), the underlying evidence, the advice of an ad hoc Panel of judicial experts, and written submissions.\u201d<\/p>\n

It added that Khan\u2019s suspension pending the assembly meeting \u201cis not an indication of the final outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Chief<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The U.N. investigation found evidence<\/a> that Khan had \u201cnonconsensual sexual contact with (the aide) in his office, at his private residence, and whilst on mission,\u201d according to a copy of its report seen by The Associated Press. However, a three-judge panel selected by the executive committee for a legal assessment of the findings found that the investigation was not conclusive enough. <\/p>\n

When contacted for comment, Khan\u2019s legal team said a statement would be issued Tuesday. <\/p>\n

Khan had already temporarily stepped down in May 2025<\/a> pending the outcome of the investigation. The process is unprecedented for the ICC, and the Assembly of States Parties has had to repeatedly create new rules to accommodate the situation.<\/p>\n

The allegations against Khan were first reported to the court\u2019s independent watchdog more than two years ago. An AP investigation<\/a> revealed that Khan was alleged to have seen the woman working in another ICC department and moved her into his office. She later became a regular presence on official trips, according to whistleblower documents. <\/p>\n

On one foreign trip, Khan allegedly asked her to rest with him on a hotel bed and then \u201csexually touched her,\u201d the documents said. Other alleged nonconsensual behavior cited in the documents included locking the door of his office and sticking his hand in her pocket. He also allegedly asked her several times to accompany him on a vacation.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

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Only the Assembly of States Parties has the authority to remove Khan from office, a move that would require a majority in a secret ballot of its 125 member states. Sixty-three countries would need to support a measure to remove him.<\/p>\n

No date was immediately set for the session, but the assembly said it would be convened as soon as possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) \u2014 In an unprecedented move, the embattled chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":853892,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5],"tags":[3881,356,57,89268,8300,50,12589,103,107],"class_list":["post-853891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-ap-top-news","tag-courts","tag-general-news","tag-international-criminal-court","tag-karim-khan","tag-news","tag-sexual-misconduct","tag-world","tag-world-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116717257030654746","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=853891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/853891\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/853892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=853891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=853891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=853891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}