The international prosecutor leading a war crimes case against Israel was last night accused of trying to hush up claims of sexual assault.
As revealed by The Mail on Sunday, Karim Khan, the British chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), is facing allegations made by a female colleague.
Last night the scandal deepened as it was alleged he attempted to convince his alleged victim to retract her claims.
Several ICC staff members have said that Khan, 54, along with a close associate, repeatedly pressured the woman to deny the allegations regarding his behaviour, according to The Guardian.
These alleged efforts occurred during both phone conversations and face-to-face meetings.
It is alleged that Karim Khan, 54, (pictured) groped the woman in his office and allegedly got into her hotel bed and began ‘sexually touching’ her
This pressure came after Khan learned that the court authorities had been informed of the misconduct allegations. At that point, he had been advised to avoid direct contact with the alleged victim after an internal inquiry into the matter was suspended, it is said.
Khan has denied any wrongdoing and claims that he asked the woman to withdraw her allegations. His legal representatives told The Guardian: ‘Our client denies the whole of the allegations and we are most concerned the exposure of a confidential and closed internal matter is designed to undermine his high-profile ongoing work at a delicate time.’
The allegations surfaced following a report in the MoS, which claims the British lawyer was accused of groping the woman in his office and allegedly got into her hotel bed and began ‘sexually touching’ her.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel speaks during a joint press conference with Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on March 10 last year
He also allegedly knocked on her hotel room door for ten minutes at 3am while they were away on another work trip – and on another occasion Mr Khan allegedly locked the door of his office before sticking his hand in the woman’s pocket. Mr Khan said there was ‘no truth’ to the accusations and that in 30 years of work he had always stood with victims of sexual harassment and abuse.
The complaint against him was lodged shortly before Khan sought the arrest of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes in Gaza in a controversial move condemned by many nations.
The woman reportedly communicated to colleagues that she refused Khan’s alleged requests to retract her claims and believed
these approaches were attempts to coerce her into asserting that her allegations were fabricated.