Karim Khan KC

The ICC’s appeals judges ruled on Friday that Mr Khan must withdraw from the case because a member of the legal team representing the government of President Nicolás Maduro is his sister-in-law.

Mr Khan has led the court’s investigation into Venezuela since 2021, focusing on claims of arbitrary detention, torture, and extrajudicial killings of political opponents.

The ruling follows months of concern raised by human rights defenders and the Arcadia Foundation, a Washington-based organisation that submitted a formal recusal request shortly after The Washington Post reported in September on the link between Mr Khan and Venkateswari Alagendra.

The court had initially dismissed the complaint, but reopened the review in February.

Mr Khan denied any impropriety, stating in court filings that he had not shared confidential information with Ms Alagendra, nor discussed public facts of the case with her. He also claimed not to have attended any meetings involving her in Venezuela.

However, the appeals judges concluded that “in light of the Prosecutor’s close family relationship with Ms Alagendra, combined with their previous professional and hierarchical relationship, a fair-minded and reasonable observer … would reasonably apprehend bias”.

Mr Khan has been given three weeks to formally request recusal.

The ICC opened its Venezuela investigation in 2021, following a referral by six Latin American states – Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Paraguay and Peru. It remains the court’s only active case in Latin America.

Mr Khan is currently on leave from the ICC amid an unrelated internal investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct, which he denies. The leave, announced in May, came as Mr Khan was also pursuing high-profile war crimes cases involving Israeli and Russian officials.