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Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, was suspended from his duties late on Monday after the court’s oversight body referred him for disciplinary proceedings over allegations of sexual misconduct.
Khan is facing allegations of sexual misconduct with a female aide, in a scandal that has dragged on for more than two years, while he has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing.
He had already temporarily stepped down in May 2025 pending the outcome of the investigation. The process is unprecedented for the ICC, and the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) has had to repeatedly create new rules to accommodate the situation.
The 21-member bureau of the ASP decided to refer Khan’s case to the wider ASP that represents every member country of the ICC.
The bureau decided “by qualified majority… to suspend the Prosecutor from duty with immediate effect pending the final decision of the Assembly of States Parties as the competent decision-maker,” the body said in a statement.
It based its decision “on 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.”
It added that Khan’s suspension pending the assembly meeting “is not an indication of the final outcome.”
The UN investigation found evidence that Khan had “nonconsensual sexual contact with (the aide) in his office, at his private residence, and whilst on mission,” 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.
The decision will have little practical impact on the functioning of the court and Khan has already been removed from pleading in the ICC’s most high-profile case against former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte.
Additional sources • AP, AFP