British Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, sat down with Analyst News to discuss the punitive state actions levelled towards him by Russian leader Vladimir Putin and US President Trump.
Khan opened up about the coercive agenda at play to intimidate him as he pursues justice and accountability for the tens of thousands of victims of flagrant war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In response, Khan defiantly centered those who have lost everything as a result of imperialist aggression, saying:
… it’s not about us. It’s about victims and their right to justice.
They’re not worthless. They’re not numbers. They’re not abstract concepts.
They’re people that have lost their babies, their wives, their husbands, their grandparents.
‘It’s painful, it’s difficult, it’s meant to coerce … but it’s not about us, it’s about the victims’ right to justice.’
In an exclusive interview with Analyst News, the International Criminal Court’s Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan details the threats and sanctions against him,… pic.twitter.com/afFHn4E5qq
— Analyst News (@AnalystNews_) June 2, 2026
ICC prosecutor: ‘you go against Israel, we’ll come after you and your family’
ICC prosecutor Khan has faced no end of abuse from corrupted officials as a result of his determination to uphold the rule of international law. The decision to issue arrest warrants for political leaders involved in numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity no doubt fuels the ongoing sanctions
Moreover, the US has expanded its punitive and intimidating sanctions beyond Khan himself and extended them to his wider family, revoking his children’s US visas. All the while, there has been no meaningful condemnation from its allies. In fact, David Cameron joined these corrosive efforts, threatening Khan that the UK would withdraw from the ICC itself if warrants against Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant were not withdrawn.
Despite these silencing efforts to obstruct accountability for the genocide in Gaza, which the US and the UK have materially supported through the provision of bombs, bullets and the UK’s spy planes, Khan has remained inspiringly defiant.
As Chief Prosecutor, he makes clear that he will continue to pursue justice and uphold the independence of the court in the face of significant political pressure.
In the interview, he spoke about the threats and warnings he has received from US officials:
Karim Khan: You go against Israel, we’ll come after you and your family. You have been warned. Marco Rubio, Mitch McConnell, I mean, quite powerful individuals, wrote a public letter. They wrote to me and they said, you have been warned. That’s how it ended. You have been warned. Yes, we have faced threats. I’ve been convicted by the Russian Federation to a 15-year sentence for the audacity they think of applying for warrants that judges independently gave in relation to the aggression against Ukraine. And President Trump has sanctioned me and my family because of Palestine.
Analyst News Journalist: You had your email disabled, your bank account’s frozen. Is that still the case?
Khan: Yes, I don’t have any credit card in the world. I mean, all those types of things. You know, travel bans, my children’s visas, revoked to the United States.
The journalist then highlighted how Khan’s family are not prosecutors or involved in decision making yet have equally faced this abuse of power.
Well, this is the question. I mean, even Magnitsky sanctions for human rights violations don’t apply to family. But as the senator said, you know… They would come after me and my family. They’ve done that.
The Magnitsky sanctions mentioned by Khan refer to a bipartisan US federal law enacted in 2012, which:
allow the United States to freeze assets and ban travel for foreign individuals and entities involved in serious human rights abuses or significant corruption, regardless of their nationality.
Khan: “It’s meant to coerce. It’s meant to make us change course.”
We have all witnessed countless severe abuses of the human rights of Palestinians and Iranians. But the US and its allies appear prepared to inflict this kind of punishment on anyone who challenges their sick agenda or seeks to hold Israel accountable.
Activists aboard the latest aid flotilla travelled towards Gaza in an attempt to deliver humanitarian assistance and show solidarity with Palestinians. Before long, Israeli forces once again intercepted the flotilla and detained those on board, an action many have condemned as illegal under international law. Subsequently, several activists reported that Israeli occupation forces subjected them to violent assault, rape, and multiple methods of torture.
Nevertheless, despite a depressingly huge volume of mounting evidence, the US has not applied Magnitsky sanctions against any Israeli officials.
Instead, they have chosen to weaponise those measures against a respected international lawyer for pursuing accountability under international law – and have even targeted his children in the process.
The Chief Prosecutor isn’t having any of it through and makes it clear that he will continue to fight for the people who have paid the price of Western imperialist aggression and Zionist settler colonialism:
But again, this is painful. It’s difficult. It’s meant to coerce. It’s meant to make us change course.
We can’t. And I think that’s a testament to the many women of the office that it’s not about us. It’s about victims and their right to justice.
Khan: ‘what’s liberating is accepting mortality’
This interview will undoubtedly reinvigorate advocates across the world. After all, millions of people have been calling out Israel and its crimes since the Israeli genocide escalated against Palestinian men, women and children after October 7th.
Whether it be the IOF leaving babies to starve to death in neonatal units, the bombing of hospitals and schools, or the kidnapping of thousands of Palestinians without charge or conviction, Israel’s crimes are far-reaching, morally depraved, and prolific.
When asked about whether he has feared for his own life and those of his family due to his principled professional stance, Khan powerfully stated:
What’s liberating is accepting mortality. You know, the cause of death is life.
So, once you accept that, actually these things don’t become very important.
Featured image via Getty/Michael M. Santiago
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