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Janvic Mateo - The Philippine Star
May 19, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — With International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan taking a temporary leave, one of his deputies is expected to take the lead in the ongoing proceedings against former president Rodrigo Duterte.
Kristina Conti, ICC assistant to counsel and one of the lawyers representing the victims of the drug war, believes that it could be deputy prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang who would lead the prosecution team.
Niang, a seasoned lawyer from Senegal, is one of the two deputy prosecutors of the ICC. He was the one who signed the request for the issuance of an arrest warrant against Duterte, who is charged with crimes against humanity.
On Saturday, ICC spokesman Fadi El Abdallah confirmed Khan’s decision to take a leave, pending the results of an investigation on sexual misconduct allegations against him.
“According to the prosecutor’s message, the deputy prosecutors will be in charge of the management of the Office of the Prosecutor during the prosecutor’s absence,” Abdallah said in a message to The STAR.
It remains unclear how Khan’s decision will impact the ongoing proceedings of the court, including the case against Duterte. The other deputy prosecutor is Nazhat Shameem Khan from Fiji.
Based on his profile on the ICC website, Niang was elected deputy prosecutor in December 2021 and was sworn in on March 7, 2022.
He held senior positions in the Senegalese judicial system, including as magistrate, trial attorney, director of criminal affairs and pardons and prosecutor general of an appeals court.
Niang also served in various positions within the United Nations system, including as judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
According to Conti, Khan’s decision to temporarily step aside is the right decision.
“The issue of sexual misconduct facing Karim Khan, the ICC prosecutor, is a serious one. So it’s only right that there be a thorough investigation into the allegation. I also think it was the right decision for him to step aside for now as the investigation deepens. This is part of the accountability mechanism,” she said in a Facebook post written in Filipino.
“No person is perfect; no institution is perfect. But the ICC is still worth a shot in the pursuit of justice for the victims, even as we continue to look for other avenues,” Conti said.
Khan not stepping down
In a statement sent to The STAR, Khan’s lawyers maintained that the ICC prosecutor does not intend to step down from his post.
“Our client remains the prosecutor, has not stepped down and has no intention of doing so,” read a statement from London-based Carter-Ruck Solicitors.
It said that Khan decided to take a leave as the “wildly inaccurate and speculative media focus on the matter is detracting from his ability to properly to focus on his job.”
“Further (and for the avoidance of doubt), our client continues to deny categorically any allegations of misconduct, and he will continue to cooperate with the investigation by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services,” it added.
The investigation against Khan began last year after a female lawyer accused him of sexual misconduct.
The British prosecutor, who assumed his post in 2021, has repeatedly denied the allegations and vowed to cooperate with the investigation.
Months before the allegations surfaced, Khan had been under intense scrutiny after his office sought arrests warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the situation in Palestine.
More recently, he faced criticisms from Duterte’s supporters following the former president’s arrest and surrender to the ICC.
It was Khan’s predecessor, Fatou Bensouda, who initiated the investigation on the situation in the Philippines. Khan proceeded with the investigation, with his office applying for an arrest warrant against Duterte in March.
In an interview in Davao last May 17, Vice President Sara Duterte said that on her 47th birthday on May 31, she will be in The Hague, Netherlands, to be with her father.
“So I will have no birthday celebration for this year. All of these are for the ICC case,” she said.
In an earlier interview, Duterte said that she would be accompanied by her mother, Elizabeth Zimmerman.
“I made a promise to my parents that they would both be there when I celebrate my birthday. So, my mother and I will go there to celebrate with former president Duterte,” she added.— Evelyn Macairan
