The British chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court repeatedly bombarded his alleged victim with calls urging her to deny the claims of sexual assault she had made against him, The Mail on Sunday understands.
Karim Khan KC, the controversial barrister bringing a war crimes case against Israel, is said to have spent more than five months pressuring and asking – sometimes multiple times in one day – his female colleague to retract serious allegations of sexual misconduct against him.
In one instance, which took place just three days before this newspaper revealed in October that he was facing the allegations, Mr Khan told the alleged victim the issue could be ‘contained’ to avoid a ‘feeding frenzy’ in the press, according to court sources.
He allegedly suggested that she write a letter disavowing her claims, which she did not do.
Instead, it is understood that later that day she left the Netherlands and since then has not returned, fearing continued pressure from both the prosecutor and internally at the court in The Hague.
Last night a well-placed source said: ‘She couldn’t take it anymore. She was so distressed and left in such a hurry that her car is still parked at the airport nearly five months later.’
They added that the female official has not seen her immediate family since that day in October.
Mr Khan, 54, announced he was seeking the arrests of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant in May 2024, just two weeks after learning that the female lawyer at the International Criminal Court (ICC) had accused him of serious sexual misconduct.
Karim Khan KC (pictured) is said to have spent more than five months pressuring and asking his female colleague to retract allegations of sexual misconduct against him
Mr Khan, 54, announced he was seeking the arrests of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) and former defence minister Yoav Gallant (left) in May 2024
An external investigation was launched six months later in November and is understood to be examining allegations that Mr Khan groped the woman in his office and ‘sexually touched’ her while on a work trip, which he has strenuously denied.
Mr Khan was advised in May that he should avoid one-to-one contact with his alleged victim but sources have said that within days of that warning he began asking her to row back on her allegations.
A different ICC source said: ‘It was pretty relentless, I think [Mr Khan] wanted to brush it away.
‘It was inappropriate on so many levels. He was told not to talk to her and yet he still did, but frankly you don’t even need to be told not to talk to her, this is a person making a complaint against you.’
And on top of the requests made by Mr Khan, sources have said that one of his most senior advisers and closest allies, Mamadou Racine Ly, also made repeated attempts to persuade the alleged victim to email investigators and say she had no complaint to make.
Both officials are said to have done this during in-person meetings and over numerous phone calls, initially taking place two or three times a week before ramping up to nearly every day from July and then often multiple times a day from August until mid-October last year.
Mr Ly, who is now the prosecutor’s Chief of Staff, is said to have quizzed the female staff member over what her ‘responsive lines’ would be if the press caught wind of the allegations, which he has denied.
Last month Mr Khan was banned from entering the United States by Donald Trump as part of an executive order sanctioning court officials.
Last month Mr Khan (pictured) was banned from entering the United States by Donald Trump as part of an executive order sanctioning court officials
It came days before the MoS revealed that Mr Khan was refusing to step aside from his role after direct pleas from three of his highest-ranking colleagues, including American lawyer Brenda Hollis, the leader of the ICC’s Palestine investigation.
There are fears that the investigation into his alleged misconduct could be hindered if he stays in his post.
Speaking about the alleged victim, a source said: ‘All of this has been devastating for her. She hasn’t seen her family since she left The Hague in October, her life has been completely upended.
‘All the while [Mr Khan] continues to walk around the Court like nothing happened and refuses to take a leave of absence which would ensure an impartial investigation.’
When the allegations were first reported in October, Mr Khan said: ‘There is no truth to suggestions of such misconduct.
‘I have worked in diverse contexts for 30 years and there has never been such a complaint lodged against me by anyone.’
Mr Khan has also denied asking the alleged victim to retract her allegations against him.
His lawyers have previously said: ‘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.’
