Member states of the International Criminal Court voted on Friday to remove chief prosecutor Karim Khan following a roughly 18-month-long investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct, Reuters reported.
In a secret ballot held at United Nations headquarters in New York City, 82 of the ICC’s 125 member states voted to dismiss Khan, according to diplomatic sources cited by the outlet. A minimum of 63 votes was required for his removal.
The allegations against Khan first surfaced in 2024. He has denied wrongdoing, saying the accusations are unfounded and criticizing the disciplinary process as unlawful and lacking evidence.
Khan had been on voluntary leave since May and was suspended as prosecutor in June after the ICC’s governing bureau determined that he had committed serious misconduct. His deputies carried out his duties during his absence. The U.K.’s Bar Standards Board also suspended Khan from practicing as a barrister in England and Wales while it considers the allegations.
In a July 16 interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Khan’s accuser, identified at her request as “Sarah,” described what she said was a pattern of escalating misconduct in the workplace. She alleged that Khan gradually crossed personal and professional boundaries, including through unwanted physical contact.
“[There was] the pawing, the physical nature of it, but it didn’t start that way,” she said. “Because it was kind of like encroachments on the boundaries slowly, not just physically but emotionally as well.”
Sarah, a Malaysian lawyer and mother of one, began working at the ICC as an intern in 2017 and later became one of Khan’s assistants, according to CNN.
The decision comes after Khan drew international scrutiny in 2024 when he sought arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes related to Israel’s war against Hamas following the terrorist group’s attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, stated that Khan “believed that by launching a political witch hunt against Israel and issuing a politically motivated arrest warrant against Prime Minister Netanyahu, the world would ignore the grave sexual misconduct allegations against him. He was wrong.”
He added that Khan “sought to scapegoat Israel in an attempt to divert attention from his own misconduct. The international community rejected that cynical attempt today.”
“Those who attempt to prosecute Israel will not escape accountability—they will also lose the trust of the international community,” Danon said. “The attacks against Israel, which were intended to distract from his disgraceful conduct, did not save Karim Khan, and they will not help Zohran Mamdani either.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar similarly praised the decision.
“The long-delayed removal of Karim Khan from the ICC for serious misconduct has exposed the moral bankruptcy of a corrupt prosecutor who rushed to file scandalous arrest warrants against Israel’s prime minister and former defense minister, in an attempt to deflect from the serious misconduct he feared would be revealed,” Sa’ar stated.
“These were politicized and outrageous arrest warrants against elected leaders of a democracy with an independent legal system defending its citizens against terror,” he added. “These warrants, issued against a country that is not even a member of the ICC, should never have been sought in the first place and should be revoked immediately.”
