The British law chief bringing a war crimes case against Israel’s prime minister is accused of sexually assaulting a female colleague.
It is alleged that Karim Khan, 54, groped the woman in his office and allegedly got into her hotel bed and began ‘sexually touching’ her.
The allegations emerged after The Mail on Sunday revealed last week that Mr Khan, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), faced internal scrutiny there in May over claims that he had harassed the woman.
The complaint was made shortly before Mr Khan requested that Israel premier Benjamin Netanyahu be arrested for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
Father-of-two Mr Khan continued to deny harassment allegations as further claims emerged.
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
He also allegedly knocked on her hotel room door for ten minutes 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.
Also, Mr Khan’s wife Shyamala Alagendra has been accused of intimidating a whistleblower who first reported the harassment claim against her husband.
The senior male staff member claims, in a document seen by the MoS, that she ‘threatened’ to spread false rumours about him.
Human rights lawyer Ms Alagendra said last night that the allegations were ‘untrue’.
The Associated Press reported that Mr Khan gave the woman a pay rise in her promotion. Their time together allegedly increased after a dinner in London where he took her hand and is said to have complained about his marriage.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel speaks during a joint press conference with Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on March 10 last year
She became a regular presence on official trips. On one, Mr Khan allegedly asked the woman to rest with him on a hotel bed, complaining of a headache, and then is claimed to have ‘sexually touched her’ without her consent.
Later, it is alleged he came to her room at 3am and knocked on the door for ten minutes.
Mr Khan said there was ‘no truth’ to the accusations and that in 30 years of work he had always stood with victims of sex harassment and abuse.
The ICC said no formal complaint had been made by the woman. But she reportedly does not trust the court’s watchdog, the Internal Oversight Mechanism, to investigate properly.
She reportedly has asked for an investigation by the body of member states that oversees the ICC, called the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute. The ICC said this request is under consideration.
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