ICC Prosecutor Dismissed Over Sexual Scandal

Member states of the International Criminal Court (ICC) have dismissed Karim Khan as prosecutor following allegations of sexual misconduct.

According to Reuters, reported on Saturday (25/7/2026), diplomatic sources, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter, said 82 of the 125 ICC member states voted in favour of dismissing the prosecutor in a ballot held on Friday (24/7) local time.

Khan, 56, denies any wrongdoing. His lawyers described the process leading to the vote as unlawful, procedurally unfair and unsupported by evidence.

Khan’s dismissal follows an announcement by the United States that it would launch a new diplomatic campaign to dissolve the ICC, which Washington considers a threat to US sovereignty.

Diplomats acting as the ICC’s oversight body decided last month that Khan had engaged in an improper sexual relationship with a junior ICC lawyer and should be dismissed.

Khan’s lawyers told Reuters that Khan denies having “any sexual relationship whatsoever” with the staff member.

Member states largely endorsed that conclusion in a vote held at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Friday (24/7) local time.

Earlier, during a visit to the Philippines on Thursday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there were “crazy and lunatic people involved at the ICC”. He said it was impossible that US political or military officials would ever be tried at the court.

The United States, which is not an ICC member, has imposed sanctions on 11 ICC judges and prosecutors, including Khan. The sanctions were imposed after the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, and following the ICC’s earlier investigation into US forces in Afghanistan.