The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, has been suspended after disciplinary proceedings against him over allegations of sexual harassment were concluded, the Guardian reports.
The ICC's governing body announced the decision on Monday evening, after the court's executive committee voted to refer the case against Khan to a special session of the court's member states to consider its future.
According to a document seen by the Guardian, a committee made up of representatives from the court's 21 member states concluded by a qualified majority that Khan had committed serious misconduct in relation to allegations of sexual harassment.
Khan, a prominent British lawyer, has repeatedly denied the allegations, which first surfaced in 2024 and seriously undermined his tenure as head of the court's prosecution. The allegations were made by a woman who worked for him at the court's headquarters in The Hague.
The decision to refer the case to all 125 ICC member states sets a precedent for the court and could lead to a vote on whether the prosecutor will be removed from office.
A statement from the governing body said the decision to suspend Khan was not indicative of the final outcome. Khan had previously temporarily stepped down from leading the ICC's department that investigates and prosecutes individuals accused of serious international crimes.
Khan came to the public eye in November 2024 when he sought arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant, as well as three Hamas leaders, for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The Executive Committee made the decision to suspend based on a report by a United Nations monitoring body and advice from a panel of judicial experts, as well as written submissions believed to have been submitted by Khan and the alleged victim.
The committee's vote represents the latest development in a process that has rocked the ICC for almost two years.
The allegations made by the ICC officer relate to Khan's conduct during 2023 and 2024. The woman claims that Khan engaged in coercive and non-consensual sexual conduct over an extended period of time. The alleged inappropriate conduct, she claims, occurred in hotel rooms during official trips, in Khan's office and at his home.
Khan's lawyers previously said he categorically denies that he harassed or abused any person, abused his position or authority, or engaged in conduct that could be construed as coercive, exploitative, or professionally inappropriate.
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