Last month, MEE reported that a panel of judges appointed by the Bureau of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP), the ICC’s governing body, to review the UN investigation had concluded it had not established any “misconduct or breach of duty” by Khan.

But the chief prosecutor has still not returned to his duties. MEE later reported that a group of disproportionately western and European states voted at a bureau meeting to disregard the panel of judges and make their own assessment, based on the UN report.

In the interview with Hasan, published on Wednesday, Khan said he had thought the judges’ conclusion “was the end of the matter. I thought obviously it would be closed straight away”. “And I was really perplexed that the bureau didn’t close it straight away.”

Khan added, “I cooperated with the process, and the process exonerated me. I’m just concerned that…why is it not being closed straight away?”

Pressed on the sexual misconduct allegations against him, Khan said, "I’ve read the findings of the judges, and in the UN report, there are 137 findings.

The investigation into Khan has unfolded against the backdrop of an intensifying intimidation campaign targeting the prosecutor and the ICC itself over his office’s ongoing efforts to bring Gaza war crimes prosecutions against Israeli leaders.