{"id":21175,"date":"2026-07-25T03:56:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T03:56:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=21175"},"modified":"2026-07-25T03:56:51","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T03:56:51","slug":"karim-khan-removed-as-icc-prosecutor-over-sexual-misconduct-allegations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/playball.com.ng\/?p=21175","title":{"rendered":"Karim Khan removed as ICC prosecutor over sexual misconduct allegations"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The International Criminal Court prosecutor whose arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu became central to New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s threat to arrest the Israeli leader was dismissed Friday after member states voted to remove him over sexual misconduct allegations.<\/p>\n

Karim Khan, the ICC\u2019s chief prosecutor, was removed after a vote by the Assembly of States Parties, the court\u2019s 125-member governing body, following disciplinary proceedings tied to allegations involving a junior female staffer in his office. Khan has denied wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

The decision marked the first time in the ICC\u2019s history that a sitting chief prosecutor has been removed from office. Khan\u2019s removal comes days after Secretary of State Marco Rubio launched a U.S. campaign to “dismantle” the ICC, accusing the court of threatening American sovereignty.<\/p>\n

MAMDANI GOES BACK ON CAMPAIGN PROMISE, SAYS NYC CAN’T ARREST NETANYAHU<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Karim Khan is the ICC’s chief prosecutor.<\/span> (Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Khan became one of the world\u2019s most controversial prosecutors after pursuing ICC arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over Israel\u2019s war against Hamas in Gaza. The ICC issued the warrants in November 2024, prompting fierce condemnation from Israel and the United States, neither of which is a member of the court.<\/p>\n

The warrants also became a flashpoint in New York politics after Mamdani repeatedly invoked the ICC case against Netanyahu. Mamdani said during his campaign that he would seek to arrest Netanyahu if the Israeli prime minister came to New York, and later acknowledged as mayor that the city lacks authority to enforce the warrant while calling on the federal government to do so.<\/p>\n

The ICC, based in The Hague in Holland, is a permanent international court created under the Rome Statute to prosecute individuals accused of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression when national courts are unable or unwilling to act.<\/p>\n

WORLD COURT PROSECUTOR WHO WENT AFTER NETANYAHU FOR WAR CRIMES SUSPENDED OVER SEXUAL MISCONDUCT<\/strong><\/p>\n

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A general view of the International Criminal Court (ICC) building in The Hague, Netherlands on April 30, 2024.<\/span> ((Photo by Selman Aksunger\/Anadolu via Getty Images))<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The allegations against Khan have triggered a crisis for the court. Reuters reported that 82 of the ICC\u2019s 125 member states voted in favor of his removal, exceeding the absolute majority required. Khan had previously stepped aside in May 2025 while a U.N. oversight investigation was underway and was suspended in June 2026 pending the final vote.<\/p>\n

The Associated Press reported that the court\u2019s oversight body found Khan had committed “serious misconduct.” The case involved allegations from a female aide who said Khan engaged in nonconsensual sexual conduct. Khan\u2019s lawyers have denied the allegations and called the removal process legally flawed and unsupported by evidence.<\/p>\n

The woman, identified only as Sarah, went public in a CNN interview last week. “There is no way for something to be consensual when you have such a power disparity,” she told CNN.<\/p>\n

Khan\u2019s legal team rejected the vote and said he would challenge the decision. Tayab Ali, partner at Bindmans LLP and head of Khan\u2019s legal team, said in a statement that the Assembly of States Parties had disregarded due process concerns raised publicly by more than 180 nongovernmental organizations and senior international lawyers.<\/p>\n

“The decision is unsupported by any lawful or properly reasoned finding that Mr Khan KC committed misconduct or breached his duties as Prosecutor,” Ali said. “He has denied the allegations from the outset and continues to do so.” Ali said the allegations were investigated for more than a year by the U.N. Office of Internal Oversight Services and argued that “there is not a single finding of misconduct, including sexual misconduct, anywhere in the OIOS report.” He also said a three-judge panel unanimously determined in March 2026 that the factual findings made by OIOS did not establish misconduct or breach of duty by Khan.<\/p>\n

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International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan poses during an interview with AFP at the Cour d’Honneur of the Palais Royal in Paris on February 7, 2024. The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) wants to prosecute “environmental crimes” without changing the court’s statute, because environmental damage is often the cause or consequence of war crimes or crimes against humanity that the ICC can already judge, Karim Khan announced on February 7, 2024, in an interview with AFP. Dimitar Dilkoff\/AFP via Getty Images<\/span> (Dimitar Dilkoff\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Khan\u2019s lawyers accused the Assembly of States Parties of removing him through a politically driven and procedurally unfair process, saying Khan and his lawyers were not allowed to make formal submissions to the Assembly before the vote.<\/p>\n

“The Prosecutor of this Court has been removed by an executive vote while under sanctions and while the Court is under immense political pressure,” Ali said.
Ali said Khan “will challenge the lawfulness and fairness of the decision through all available legal mechanisms.”<\/p>\n

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New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a still image taken from handout video released on July 21, 2026.<\/span> (Reuters)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Israeli officials argued Friday that Khan\u2019s removal undermined the legitimacy of the ICC\u2019s actions against Netanyahu.<\/p>\n

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon told Fox News Digital that Khan believed “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.”<\/p>\n

“He was wrong,” Danon said. “He sought to scapegoat Israel in an attempt to divert attention from his own misconduct. The international community rejected that cynical attempt today.”<\/p>\n

NETANYAHU FIRES BACK AT NYC MAYOR MAMDANI’S VOW TO ENFORCE ‘BOGUS ARREST WARRANT’<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan (right).<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Danon added, “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.”<\/p>\n

Anne Bayefsky, president of Human Rights Voices and director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust, told Fox News Digital that Khan\u2019s fall should not be viewed as an isolated scandal. “He unexpectedly requested arrest warrants for Israel\u2019s prime minister and defense minister within weeks of discovering his sexual deviancy had been revealed. He accused his victim of being a Mossad agent. He and his lawyers constantly repeated the refrain that Israelis were behind the accusations.”<\/p>\n

Bayefsky claimed that Khan\u2019s conduct has damaged the ICC itself. “Now there is a massive campaign to save the ICC from Khan. On this logic, Khan\u2019s anti-Israel fanaticism never tainted his investigation of Israel, his arrest warrant request against Israelis, his submissions to the ICC Court, the evidence he placed before the Court, or the analysis and conclusions of the ICC Court that placed their trust in him when they decided to grant his warrant requests.”<\/p>\n

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Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon speaking at the General Assembly.<\/span> (UN Photo\/ Eskinder Debebe)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/strong><\/p>\n

The ICC has not said Khan\u2019s removal affects the Netanyahu and Gallant warrants, which were issued by judges after Khan\u2019s request.<\/p>\n

Requests sent to Khan’s office for comment were not answered by the time of publication.<\/p>\n

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Efrat (Effie) Lachter is an investigative journalist, filmmaker and war correspondent. She has directed and produced over 200 documentary segments across more than 40 countries. Recipient of the 2022 Peres Center for Peace Award, Lachter is also a 2023-24 Knight-Wallace Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communication and a master’s degree in political science.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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