PNN – Member states of the International Criminal Court (ICC) voted to remove the court’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, from office.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network citing The Guardian, member nations of the ICC voted on Friday—in an unprecedented move—to dismiss the British prosecutor.
Published reports indicate that 82 of the court’s 125 member states voted in favor of Khan’s removal during a special session at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
The vote followed a lengthy process investigating allegations of sexual misconduct. These accusations had been raised by a woman who worked for Khan at the ICC.
Khan has repeatedly denied the allegations of sexual misconduct. His lawyers have also criticized the disciplinary process, describing it as unfair.
In 2021, this prominent British lawyer was elected to a nine-year term as the head of the court’s prosecution division, which is responsible for investigating and prosecuting individuals accused of crimes.
Karim Khan is the same prosecutor who decided to seek arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the regime’s former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of committing war crimes in Gaza.
Two years ago, Reuters reported that the allegations against Khan coincided with the review of his May request for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his then-Defense Minister. Khan himself questioned the timing of the allegations against him in relation to his request for warrants against the Israeli leaders.
Last summer, Middle East Eye also revealed details of an intimidation campaign against this British prosecutor due to his investigation into Israeli war crimes in Gaza.
According to the publication, the campaign involved threats and warnings directed at Khan for initiating and pursuing a case against Netanyahu and other leaders of the Zionist regime over war crimes in Gaza.
Middle East Eye disclosed that Khan had been warned that unless the arrest warrants issued for Netanyahu and his then-Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, were revoked, both he personally and the International Criminal Court would be destroyed.