CAIRO, June 26 (Reuters) – British barrister Karim Khan on Friday told Saudi Arabia’s Al Arabiya TV that the decision to suspend him from his role as chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) violated court procedures and was unjustified.
“Unfortunately, the court’s bureau violated procedures, and what happened was astonishing, unjustified and unlawful,” Khan said through an interpreter in his first public comments since his suspension following a decision by diplomats running the ICC’s oversight body.
Documents seen by Reuters showed that the decision by the executive bureau of the oversight body found that the prosecutor had an inappropriate sexual relationship with a junior staff member.
Khan also reiterated previous comments made by his lawyers that a review by external judges found there was insufficient evidence to prove the allegations “beyond a reasonable doubt”, which the bureau chose to set aside.
The decision by the executive bureau of the ICC’s governing body will inform a vote on Khan’s fate by the ICC’s 125-member Assembly of States Parties in New York on July 24.
(Reporting by Enas Alashray in Cairo, writing by Stephanie van den Berg, Editing by Franklin Paul)
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