Findings from AP investigation into allegations of misconduct against the prosecutor who prosecuted Netanyahu

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – While bringing war crimes charges against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this year, the International Criminal Court chief was accused of trying to force a female staffer into a sexual relationship for more than a year.

Karim Khan has categorically denied the allegations and court officials have suggested they may have been made as part of a smear campaign by Israeli intelligence.

The Associated Press gathered details of the allegations from documents submitted to the court’s independent watchdog and interviews with eight ICC officials and people close to the woman.

Here are some of the key findings from the AP investigation.

Among the allegations made to the AP is that Khan noticed the woman working in another department at the ICC and moved her to his office, a transfer that included a raise. Their time together reportedly extended after a private dinner in London, during which Khan grabbed the woman’s hand and complained about his marriage. She was present on official trips and meetings with dignitaries.

During one such trip, Khan allegedly asked the woman to rest on a hotel bed with him and then “sexually touched her,” the documents say. Later, he came to her room at 3 a.m. and knocked on the door for ten minutes.

Other alleged non-consensual behaviors cited in the documents included locking the door to his office and putting his hand in her pocket. He is also said to have asked her several times to go on vacation together.

Khan, 54, said in a statement that “allegations of misconduct are not true” and that in 30 years of scandal-free work he has always stood by victims of sexual harassment and abuse.

Khan added that he would be willing to cooperate with any investigation if requested, saying it was important that the allegations be “thoroughly heard, examined and subjected to due process.”

Two employees whom the woman confided in at the ICC headquarters in The Hague reported the alleged misconduct in early May to the court’s independent watchdog, which said it questioned the woman and ended the investigation after five days when she objected to the filing a formal complaint was decided. Khan himself was never questioned.

But things may not be over yet.

While the woman, who still works at the court, declined to comment to AP, people close to her say her initial reluctance was due to distrust of the internal watchdog and that she had asked the member state body that oversees the ICC to provide one to start external probe. An ICC official familiar with the matter, who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity, confirmed the application was still under review.

Paivi Kaukoranta, a Finnish diplomat who is currently president of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute, which oversees the court, did not comment specifically when asked whether a new investigation had been opened.

But it left the door open for future action.

In a statement, she urged people to respect the integrity and confidentiality of the process, “including any further possible steps as necessary.”

Just a few days after the case was closed, the court’s work continued. Khan requested arrest warrants on May 20 for Netanyahu, his defense minister and three Hamas leaders on war crimes charges. A panel of three judges is now examining this application.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration said it was blindsided by the move, and Israel’s allies in Congress also seized on the potential scandal.

When Khan announced the charges, he suggested that outside forces were trying to derail his investigation.

“I insist that all attempts to obstruct, intimidate or unduly influence the officers of this court must cease immediately,” Khan said.

Israel has been waging an influence campaign against the court since the ICC recognized Palestine as a member and opened a preliminary investigation in 2015 into what the court calls “the situation in the State of Palestine.”

London’s The Guardian newspaper and several Israeli news outlets reported this summer that Israel’s intelligence services have allegedly targeted senior ICC officials over the past decade, including by monitoring Khan’s predecessor and showing up at her home with envelopes full of cash. to discredit them.

Netanyahu himself, in the days leading up to Khan’s announcement of the war crimes indictment, called on the world’s democracies to “use all the means at their disposal” to stop the court from what he called an “outrage of historic proportions.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry referred AP’s inquiries about the case to the prime minister’s office, which did not respond. The U.S. State Department declined to discuss the matter but said in a statement that it “takes any allegations of sexual harassment seriously and we would expect the court to do the same.”