The British international prosecutor demanding the arrest of Israel’s prime minister for war crimes in Gaza has denied allegations he tried to hush up accusations he sexually assaulted a woman.
Karim Khan, who is leading a war crime case against Israel, was accused of pressuring his alleged victim to withdraw her claims after she made a formal complaint of sexual misconduct.
The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and an official close to him made repeated efforts, on phone and in person, to convince the woman to drop her claim, The Guardian reported, citing four sources.
At the time, Mr Khan had been told to avoid direct contact with the alleged victim after an aborted internal inquiry into the matter.
The scandal comes at an extremely sensitive time for the Hague-headquartered ICC.
A panel of three judges is considering Mr Khan’s demand for arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, including Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister, to be issued for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.