‘I’m not an Israeli agent’: Karim Khan accuser breaks silence

A staff member at the International Criminal Court in The Hague who accused the court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, of sexual harassment and assault — allegations that led to an investigation against him and his suspension — gave her first on-camera interview Thursday night, describing in her own voice the series of humiliations she says she endured.

The staff member, whom CNN identified only by her first name, Sarah, is a Malaysian Muslim woman. In the interview, she denied claims that her complaint was effectively made on behalf of the State of Israel in order to damage Khan’s credibility, and perhaps lead to the cancellation of the arrest warrants he issued over suspected war crimes against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Gallery Sarah describes the sexual assaults by ICC prosecutor Karim Khan, her boss

The allegations against Khan first emerged in 2024. Last month, the court’s oversight body suspended Khan pending the conclusion of proceedings against him. On July 24, the ICC’s 125 member states are expected to vote and decide on his case, including the possibility of his permanent removal.

CNN reported that it obtained a copy of a December report by the U.N. Office of Internal Oversight Services, which found a “factual basis” for Sarah’s allegations based on interviews with her, her colleagues and additional witnesses. According to the report, Sarah said in her testimony that Khan repeatedly sexually harassed her, touched her, tried to kiss her and penetrated her with his fingers and genitals. She said such sexual contact took place at his home, in his office and on work trips abroad — all without consent. Khan continues to deny all the allegations.

Sarah had worked as Khan’s assistant since February 2023. In the interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, she said: “I have no other way to describe it but an escalation of attempts. The pawing, the physical nature of it – but it didn’t start that way. Because it was kind of like encroachments on the boundaries slowly – not just physically but emotionally as well.”

She said she sometimes froze and was afraid to say “no” to some of Khan’s advances out of fear of losing her job, her livelihood and her work visa, which allows her to live in the Netherlands with her husband and their son.

“There is no way for something to be consensual when you have such a power disparity. What I think many people don’t understand is that Mr. Khan was not just my boss, he was everyone’s boss, and that cannot be consensual.”

The International Criminal Court in the Hague ( Photo: Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo/Reuters )

In the CNN interview, Sarah described initial interactions with Khan that made her uncomfortable. She said his behavior eventually escalated into more aggressive acts, including coming to her hotel room late at night. In one instance, she said, he pressured her to join him for a “nap” and put his hands under her leggings while she pretended to be asleep.

Sarah said that despite Khan’s alleged conduct, she tried to continue doing her job and avoid attention that could harm her career prospects. At one point, she said, she told Khan that if his behavior continued, she feared she would harm herself. She said that after several colleagues expressed concern for her well-being, she told them about Khan’s alleged sexual misconduct. In the months that followed, she said, she was subjected to constant pressure from Khan and other staff members working for him to write a letter stating that she had fabricated the allegations against him.

CNN noted that Khan and some of those defending him have claimed that Sarah’s allegations are part of an effort to harm him over his decision to seek arrest warrants against senior Israeli officials. In the interview with Amanpour, Sarah firmly denied acting as a “state actor” for Israel — a denial consistent with the U.N. oversight body’s report, which said that “multiple credible witnesses dismissed the notion that she was a spy,” and that one ICC employee told investigators the notion that she was an Israeli agent was “a load of bull.”

“I think many parties have for their own agenda conflated the two things,” Sarah told CNN. “That conflation has only helped to distract and deflect from the validity of that complaint.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan ( Photos: Mark Israel Sellem, AFP )

She also noted that she had passed the highest levels of security clearance to work for the court, both under Khan and under former chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda.

“If ever there was even a hint of suspicion that I was a state agent of any kind, I would have been dismissed,” she said.

Sarah added that part of her motivation for speaking publicly now was that her anonymity had allowed others to create a narrative about her that suited their interests. Asked about her position on the validity of the request for arrest warrants against senior Israeli officials, she said she could not speak about specific court investigations, but added: “I fully and entirely support the court’s investigations.”

In addition to Sarah, another woman also has accused Khan of sexual misconduct . The second woman, a former ICC staff member identified as “Patricia,” worked as an unpaid intern on Khan’s team in 2009, when she was in her 20s. She said she was asked to work from his home, and that each time she came there, he tried to get close to her, touch her, kiss her and engage in intimate activity with her.