The Qatari government paid a London-based firm to discredit the woman who accused International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Karim Khan of sexual harassment, the Guardian reported.
The Highgate organization and a smaller organization gathered significant personal information about the woman who accused Khan and her family, including her child.
In documents obtained by the Guardian, Highland executives admit that they acted on behalf of a “client country” that they called “Q country.” They were careful not to refer to Qatar by name.
The group attempted to find ties between Khan’s accuser and the State of Israel.
The alleged victim told the Guardian that the organization’s actions are “disturbing” and stated: “The idea that private intelligence firms have been instructed to target me is as incomprehensible as it is heartbreaking.”
Highland denied the accusations.
The accuser is an ICC staff lawyer who alleged that Khan engaged in coercive sexual behavior during 2023-2024. In August 2025, it was reported that a second woman accused Khan of sexual misconduct. The woman, who requested anonymity, told the Guardian that Khan repeatedly harassed her while she interned for him in The Hague in 2009. She described his conduct as relentless, claiming he abused his position by pressuring her to work at his home, where he allegedly touched and kissed her and attempted to persuade her to engage in further physical contact.
An internal inquiry against Khan, which began with the staffer’s complaint, has now broadened to include the second woman’s account.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Khan announced he was seeking arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant within three weeks of the first accusations of sexual harassment against him, further fueling the accusations that the warrants were politically motivated.
Professor Anne Bayefsky, the Director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust and President of the Human Rights Voices organization, told Arutz Sheva – Israel National News that Khan appeared to be “hoping to save himself by projecting that same perverse antisemitic thought process on the international law world.”
Khan has temporarily stepped aside from his position and firmly rejects the claims. His legal team stated that he has “never engaged in sexual misconduct of any kind” and argued that the documentation provided to investigators undermines the allegations. They further suggested the charges may be linked to efforts to discredit him after the ICC issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli officials.
