Fact check: Video of former Pak PM Imran Khan is digitally altered

Hyderabad: Several social media users are sharing a video of former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan allegedly under distress in jail. The black and white video shows a close-up of his face, while he sits with eyes closed, making it look like he is feeling discomfort.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman was convicted in the Toshakhana case and was sentenced to three years in jail on August 5. As per the latest reports, he is currently in Attock Jail in Punjab province.

The caption to the video reads, “third night in jail, all because he dared to dream; he dared to stand up against the mafia that’s the root cause for this country’s devastation. sucks. (sic)”

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false as the viral video is a tampered version of its original.

We noticed that the link www.wenews.pk is in the video clip. This led us to the website which is a Pakistani media outlet.

We also found the extended and original version of the video on the YouTube channel of We News. The video was titled “Imran Khan Exclusive: ‘In the elections, PTI’s graph will go up due to the delay.’” The video was published on August 1, 2023, and in it, Imran is answering questions posed to him about Pakistan.

The description of the video reads, “Khawaja Asif’s statement has confirmed that his government was ousted as a result of a conspiracy. ‘I have been saying from the very first day that there was a conspiracy against my government, General Bajwa conspired here and later involved the Americans, In the elections, PTI’s graph will go up due to the delay. Imran (sic)”

Most importantly, in the original video, Imran Khan’s eyes are open, unlike in the viral video. Comparing both videos, the glitches around Imran’s eyes in the viral video become obvious. These are digital manipulations done to make it look like Imran’s eyes are closed.

Hence, it is evident that the original video of Imran Khan’s interview has been digitally altered.