ICC finds prosecutor Karim Khan jeopardizes ‘presumption of impartiality’ and calls for recusal from Venezuela case

The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) gave chief prosecutor Karim Khan three weeks to step aside from the investigation against the Nicolás Maduro regime for crimes against humanity.

The text of the sentence accessed by VOZ explains that prosecutors must perform their duties impartially, maintaining a "presumption of impartiality." As Khan's sister-in-law, Venkateswari Alagendra, is a lawyer who represented the Venezuelan regime, this condition is not met: "There are reasons to believe that there are grounds for disqualification."

"The mere appearance of bias is enough to undermine the confidence of the public, victims and the international community in the ICC," argued the co-founder of the organization that filed the petition against Khan, Robert Carmona-Borja of the Arcadia Foundation, to Venezuelan media outlet El Nacional.

Although the ICC Appeals Chamber directed the prosecutor to step aside on his own initiative, it clarified that it reserved "the right to resort to other legal avenues, including proceeding to disqualify the Prosecutor from the situation at hand, if the circumstances so require."

Access the ruling against Khan