The Chamber of Appeals of the International Criminal Court (ICC) ordered on Friday (1) that prosecutor Karim Khan should request removal from the investigation into Venezuela due to a “conflict of interest”.
According to the order issued by the ICC, a sister -in -law of Khan, Venkateswari Alagendra, is part of the lawyers team that represents the regime of Nicolás Maduro in court and even presented oral allegations at the Court.
The complaint about the kinship was made by the NGO Foundation Arcadia. The TPI Attorney’s Office opened an investigation into Venezuela in 2021 (which had been preceded by preliminary findings) for crimes against humanity.
“Applicants claim that Mrs. Alagendra is sister -in -law of the prosecutor, and that there is a” documented professional collaboration and a hierarchical dynamic “between the prosecutor and Mrs. Alagendra,” said the TPI Chamber of Resources in the order.
“The applicants also argue that the professional history documented between the prosecutor and Mrs. Alagendra ‘goes beyond an incidental association’ and that actually ‘was a deliberate and structured working relationship, characterized by a coordinated approach to high-risk legal defense strategies,’” he added.
“Having established that there is reason to believe that there is a foundation for the disqualification of the Attorney, the Chamber of Appeals considers that the prosecutor has a duty, pursuant to rule 35 of the regulation, to request his dismissal of the Venezuelan situation,” said the Chamber of Resources, which gave Khan three weeks to withdraw from the case.
The room stressed that “reserves the right to resort to other legal ways, including process of disqualification” of Khan of the investigation, “if circumstances so require it.”
In May, the TPI prosecutor temporarily departed from office while an investigation into accusations of “sexual misconduct” against him.
Khan has been a TPI prosecutor since 2021 and in recent years has become known for two requests for issuing international arrest warrants accepted by the Court: Russian dictator Vladimir Putin in 2023 on accusations of illegal deportation of minors during the war in Ukraine, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant and a leader of the terrorist group Hamas in 2024, for alleged war crimes and against humanity in the current conflict in the Gaza Strip.
Due to the request for arrest against the Israeli authorities, the United States government blocked any assets Khan in the country and prevented him from entering US territory. Trump management also applied sanctions against four court judges due to the arrest warrant against Netanyahu.
