Claim: A photo shows former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan offering prayers inside Attock jail.
Fact: The photo is doctored. It actually shows PTI’s senior leader Ali Mohammad Khan in Mardan jail.
Imran Khan was sentenced to three years in prison on 5 August 2023 after an Islamabad trial court indicted him in the Toshakhana case.
According to a short order issued by ADSJ Humayun Dilawar cited in this report, Khan hid “the benefits he accrued from the national exchequer wilfully and intentionally” and “cheated while providing information of gifts he obtained from Toshakhana which later proved to be false and inaccurate” during his tenure from 2018 to 2022.
Many PTI leaders have either been imprisoned or gone into hiding since 9 May. Ali Mohammad Khan was first arrested on 11 May under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order Order (MPO) in connection with 9 May violence.
He was later released from Mardan jail on 27 July 2023, where he spent 80 days, following Peshawar High Court’s order.
Imran Khan’s arrest from the Islamabad High Court’s premises on 9 May 2023 in the Al-Qadir Trust case sparked nationwide protests.
Fact or Fiction?
On 10 August 2023, X (formerly Twitter) user Asad Malik (@asadmaliklive) posted a photo implying that it shows Imran Khan offering prayers inside jail.
The photo is accompanied by the following caption:
“سنا تھا کہ،،،
1- خان نشہ کرتا ہے:
پولیس نے بتایا اُس کی صحت کا راز ورزش ہے۔
2۔ خان یہودی ہے:
پولیس نے بتایا وہ پانچ وقت کی نماز کے ساتھ تہجد بھی پڑتا ہے۔
3۔ خان جادو پر یقین رکھتا ہے:
پولیس نے بتایا وہ پورے دن صرف قران کی تلاوت کرتا رہتا ہے۔
پولیس جھوٹ تو نہیں بول رہی ؟؟؟
[Heard that
1- Khan takes drugs:
The police said that the secret of his health is exercise.
- Khan is Jewish:
The police said that he prays five times a day along with tahajjud.
- Khan believes in magic:
The police said that he keeps reciting only Quran throughout the day.
The police are not lying.]”
Soch Fact Check found through a reverse-image search that the photo is doctored. The search turned up tweets from 28 June and 30 June, including here, here, and here which show the original photo of Ali Mohammad Khan offering prayers in jail.
Based on key indicators, a comparison graphic below shows that this photo and the viral photo have multiple similarities. But Ali’s face has been replaced with Khan’s in the photo to make it look like the former prime minister in jail.
Soch Fact Check also found that Capital TV carried a news report about the photo after coming across a video published by them on 28 June 2023. It is titled, “Ali Muhammad Khan’s pictures taken in jail created stir on social media | Capital TV.”
We could not find any media reports about the police commenting on Khan’s activities in jail or sharing how he has been spending his time there, contrary to what the caption of the viral photo suggests.
Virality:
The photo was also found here, here, here, and here on X.
The tweet by Asad Malik gained significant traction with 269,000 views, 2,302 likes, 773 retweets, and 162 quote tweets.
The claim was also shared here, here, and here on Facebook.
Conclusion: The viral photo has been doctored to imply that it shows Khan in jail. It was actually taken when Ali Muhammad Khan was in jail.
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