Karim Khan was seeking arrest warrants for Israeli leadership at the time the accusations surfaced, Alessandro Bruno told RT
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The timing of the sexual assault allegations brought against International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan is extremely suspicious, geopolitical analyst Alessandro Bruno told RT in an interview on Friday.
The fact that the ICC’s head prosecutor was working on a high-profile case at the time, which involved the issuance of arrest warrants against the Israeli leadership, “raises many questions,” he added.
Last May, Khan announced that he would apply for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his then Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as top figures in the Hamas leadership, for war crimes committed in the Gaza conflict. The ICC issued the warrants last November, around the time when accusations against Khan surfaced.
The Chief Prosecutor has since taken leave from his role, pending the outcome of an external investigation, multiple media outlets reported on Friday, citing the ICC. Khan has denied any wrongdoing.
“The timing of the allegations is, in my view, extremely suspicious. Extremely!” Bruno told RT on Friday.
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“The fact that the prosecutor was working on an important case concerning alleged genocide in Palestine and related accusations against the prime minister of Israel, I think I would have a little bit of skepticism as well,” he added.
Bruno suggested that, given Khan’s central role, the allegations could affect the ICC’s work on the case.
“The accusations could very much compromise the court’s decision, because he was the lead prosecutor on the case,” he said.
The analyst also noted that the scandal could further “undermine” the ICC’s credibility, especially in countries like Israel and the United States, neither of which are members of the court.
When asked why ICC member states Poland and Hungary refused to comply with the court’s arrest warrant for Netanyahu, Bruno replied that the judicial body mostly works against the leaders of developing countries.
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“It is a controversial body. It’s supposedly run by the UN, but it has had bite, interestingly enough, against dictators in developing countries,” Bruno said.
Former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte was arrested in Manilla on an ICC warrant in March, and extradited to The Hague on charges of crimes against humanity. An overwhelming number of previous extraditions by the court involved individuals from African countries.