United Nations: Member states of the International Criminal Court (ICC) voted on Friday to remove chief prosecutor Karim Khan from office following allegations that he sexually assaulted a female staff member.

Khan, 56, had already been suspended last month by the ICC's governing body before the secret ballot, in which 82 of the court's 125 member states backed his dismissal for "serious misconduct and a serious breach of duty."

According to sources cited by AFP, only 13 countries voted in favour of Khan remaining in office during the closed-door meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York. Fifteen member states abstained, while several others did not participate in the vote.

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Responding to the outcome, Khan's lawyer said the prosecutor would challenge "the lawfulness and fairness of the decision through all available legal mechanisms," while the Hague-based court said it "takes note" of the member states' decision.

Khan voluntarily stepped aside from his duties in May 2025 after an investigation was launched into allegations made by a female colleague the previous year.

The complainant, a Malaysian lawyer who served as Khan's direct assistant, recently spoke to CNN about the alleged incidents. Identifying herself only by her first name, Sarah, she described "an escalation of attempts" that she said culminated in a physical assault.

"There is no way for something to be consensual when you have such a power disparity," she told CNN. "What I think many people don't understand is that Mr Khan was not just my boss, he was everyone's boss."

Khan, who had led the ICC prosecution since 2021, has consistently denied all allegations against him.

Following the vote, Paivi Kaukoranta, who heads the ICC's governing body, commended member states for their "spirit of unity shown in upholding the integrity of the court."

She added that the process ensures the court "can discharge its critical mandate in the interests of the international community as a whole and victims of atrocity crimes the world over."

Khan's legal representative, Tayab Ali, criticised the decision, saying it carries "grave implications" beyond the prosecutor's personal case.

"The independence of the International Criminal Court depends upon its elected officials being protected from removal through processes that are political, procedurally unfair or inconsistent with the findings of independent judicial bodies," Ali said on X.

During his tenure, Khan oversaw several high-profile cases that attracted significant international attention.

In 2024, he secured arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to the Gaza conflict. The ICC also issued arrest warrants for several senior Hamas leaders, who have since been killed.

The United States imposed sanctions on Khan and several ICC judges over the warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant.

Washington welcomed Friday's decision to remove Khan, with State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott calling him an example of institutional corruption.

"It is good that he is gone, but he is only one small cog in this irredeemably corrupt institution," State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said on X. The US, like Israel, has not ratified the international treaty that established the ICC and it has rejected the court's jurisdiction in cases involving the US or Israel.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also welcomed the decision, describing Khan's dismissal as "long-delayed" and claiming the arrest warrants were "an attempt to deflect from the serious misconduct he feared would be revealed."

"These warrants, issued against a country that is not even a member of the ICC, should never have been sought in the first place and should be revoked immediately," he posted on X.

Reacting to the outcome, Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch, stressed the broader importance of the tribunal.

She said the court "is more than any one person; it's a critical court of last resort that anchors a global movement for justice."

Evenson added that the court should "hold itself to the highest standards." (AFP)