Claim: An op-ed published in The New York Times on Saturday called for Imran’s release from Adiala Jail, where the PTI leader has been incarcerated since August 5.
Fact: It is not an op-ed or article. In fact, it is an advertisement published in The New York Times on Saturday, 2 August 2025, by an apparent non-profit organisation called ‘First Pakistan Global’.
On 2 August, 2025, an X (formerly Twitter) account belonging to First Pakistan Global shared an image of Saturday’s edition of The New York Times, showing an advertisement published in the newspaper which called for the release of former prime minister Imran Khan, titled “Free Imran Khan”. However, on the organisation’s X account, a pinned post says, “A full-page @nytimes op-ed by the Pakistani-American diaspora exposes Pakistan’s descent into military tyranny.” The post, published at 4:43 am on Saturday, seems to be the origin of the claim.
The post was shared by the above account and multiple other users on Saturday, who misrepresented the advertisement as an article or an “op-ed”.
For instance, Zahra Liaquat, a user on X with more than 100,000 followers posted the video with the caption, “An article in The New York Times about Imran Khan’s two-year imprisonment and hardships is being viewed worldwide.”
Since the page in question is clearly labelled an advertisement in The New York Times, calling it an op-ed or article is misleading.
Imran Khan’s imprisonment
Khan, who served as Pakistan’s 22nd Prime Minister, was ousted from power after losing a no-confidence vote in the parliament, less than four years after he won the 2018 general election. He was arrested over corruption charges on 9 May 2023 on the orders of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), an anti-graft watchdog.
His detention triggered violent, countrywide protests, which later led to supporters and members of the PTI being detained, with some being tried in military courts. Khan was released a few days later after the Supreme Court of Pakistan intervened.
His arrest in August came as he faced over 100 charges since his ousting; many of these were linked to allegations of corruption and inciting violence.
This year, he was handed a 14-year jail term in January in a corruption case involving the Al-Qadir Trust. He was also fined over £4,000, while his wife received a seven-year sentence and a fine.
In May earlier this year, the sons of the former premier, Sulaiman and Kasim Khan, started campaigning against their father’s incarceration, calling for his release. The pair met US President Donald Trump’s close aid Richard Grenell last month, with Grenell saying, “you must stay strong. There are millions of people around the world who are sick of political prosecutions.
You are not alone.”
The Pakistani diaspora, in the US, has repeatedly raised their voice against the incarceration of Imran. In October last year, Pakistani American Public Affairs Committee, an organisation attempting to improve US-Pakistan relations, endorsed US President Donald Trump for the elections, citing that a legislative coup was orchestrated by the former US president Joe Biden’s administration against Khan.
In an opinion, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) termed Khan’s detention “arbitrary”. Rights groups have also noted “a pattern of weaponization of the legal system to keep Imran Khan under detention and away from all political activity”.
Khan and the PTI have dismissed all the charges against the former prime minister, calling them politically motivated.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check, upon investigation, confirmed that an advertisement had been placed in the The New York Times calling for the release of the former premier. The posts which circulated omitted the part terming the newspaper clipping as an advertisement.
The entire advertisement, along with the title, can be seen here. According to a copy of the advertisement, it was published in The New York Times by an apparent organisation named “Pakistani-American Diaspora” in collaboration with First Pakistan Global.
Upon research, it seems that “Pakistani-American Diaspora” does not have an online presence. First Pakistan Global does have a website, as stated in the article, but the website was not accessible. According to the bio on the organisation’s X account, the NGO comprises “entities and members residing abroad, dedicated to advocating for the betterment of Pakistan”.
A newspaper clipping of an advertisement from The New York Times misattributed as an op-ed.
Virality
The misleading claim then circulated across multiple platforms with two provincial wings of the PTI sharing the advertisement by attributing its contents directly to The New York Times. The caption for both the posts read, “(Translation: Imran Khan has been in jail for 731 days. The United Nations has declared this arrest illegal, unfair, and political revenge.- The New York Times)”. In fact, the contents of the advertisement should be attributed to “First Pakistan Global in collaboration with Pakistani-American Diaspora”, as stated in the ad itself.
Soch Fact Check found that the claim was published from multiple accounts. These can be viewed here, here, here, here and here.
The advertisement was misrepresented as an op-ed here and here.
Conclusion: The advertisement, published in The New York Times, calling for the release of former prime minister Imran Khan was sponsored by the “Pakistani-American Diaspora” in collaboration with First Pakistan Global. It is neither an op-ed nor an article, and the contents of the advertisement cannot be attributed to The New York Times.
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Background image in cover photo: Journalist Rasheed Abou-Alsamh’s X account
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