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ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan asked a woman who accused him of sexual assault to drop charges so he could issue an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.
Some details about the allegations became known in November, shortly before the International Criminal Court issued at Khan’s request the warrant for the arrest of Netanyahu and Israel’s then defense minister, Yoav Gallant. The Journal’s exposé offers new details on the allegations against Khan and how he allegedly linked the charges to the arrest warrants against Israeli leaders.
The complainant, a Malaysian lawyer with whom Khan had traveled and worked closely for years, alleged that Khan sexually assaulted her several times in several countries, and that he’d warned her that pursuing charges against him would damage “the justice of the victims,” according to testimony reviewed by the Journal.
“Think about the Palestinian arrest warrants,” he was quoted as saying.
The timing of the arrest warrants issued in November 2024 for alleged war crimes raised suspicions that Khan’s decision was calculated to deflect attention from the sex scandal, which came to light internally a few weeks earlier, the Journal reported.
Khan, through legal counsel, has denied any sexual misconduct and dismissed any link between the allegations and his pursuit of the Israeli warrants.
Khan’s warrant applications meant he supported the anti-Israel line of several ICC member states. The international tribunal is not part of the U.N. and derives its mandate from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, a treaty that Israel, the United States and several other countries did not sign.
The arrest warrants were contentious regardless of Khan’s sexual assault probe and faced heavy opposition by some member states, including Hungary and Germany. The woman involved initially chose not to assist investigators, telling colleagues she did not want to derail the Palestinian case by lodging a complaint against Khan, according to the Journal.
“He always holds on to me and leads me to the bed,” she said in testimony reviewed by Journal. “It’s the feeling of being trapped.”
According to the paper, the woman stayed in her role because of her commitment to human rights work, financial responsibilities tied to her terminally ill mother, and a growing fear of retaliation from Khan.
This account was supported by current and former ICC officials, the newspaper said.
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‘Attempted to intimidate’
An investigation by the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services is underway, examining not only the sexual misconduct allegations but also claims that Khan attempted to intimidate the complainant and others who reported his actions, The Wall Street Journal noted.
While removing Khan would require a majority vote among the court’s 125 member states, the investigation’s outcome could have significant consequences for the ICC—especially at a time when its credibility is being challenged by powerful non-members such as the United States, China, Russia and Israel.
Khan, according to The Wall Street Journal, has implied the accusations are part of a wider attempt to weaken the ICC.
The sexual conduct case began unfolding April 29, 2024, when the woman broke down in front of Thomas Lynch, a senior ICC legal adviser, and another colleague, revealing months of alleged sexual abuse by Khan, according to ICC insiders cited by the Journal. On May 2, Lynch and two aides confronted Khan at his residence, informing him that the matter would be reported to the court’s human resources office.
Khan reportedly responded by saying he would need to resign, before adding, “But then people will think I’m running away from Palestine.”
The following day, his office issued a statement calling for “all attempts to impede, intimidate or improperly influence its officials [to] cease immediately,” though it did not directly address the allegations.
During this time, Khan was preparing for a visit to Israel and Gaza, a trip that he’d pursued for months. Antony Blinken and Jake Sullivan, then U.S. secretary of state and national security advisor, respectively, had urged Israel to allow the visit, viewing it as a chance to influence Khan’s decision regarding the warrants. On May 3, Khan told Blinken that the trip would provide crucial insight before any decision was made, according to the report.
On May 19, Khan abruptly canceled the visit. The next day, he publicly announced the applications for arrest warrants, against the recommendations of senior prosecutors who cautioned against creating public pressure on the judges reviewing the applications, the Journal reported.
Khan allegedly attempted to persuade the woman to retract her claims.
“The casualties will unfortunately be three: You and your family, me and my family and the justice of the victims,” he reportedly told her during a phone call that has since become part of the U.N.’s investigation. According to her testimony cited by The Wall Street Journal, he also said to her on another occasion: “Think about the Palestinian arrest warrants.”
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