Claim: Leaked audio of a conversation between Maryam Nawaz and Rana Sanaullah proves that she attempted to orchestrate the leak of an alleged private video of PTI chief Imran Khan
Fact: The audio of Maryam Nawaz Sharif speaking at an old press conference in October 2022 was doctored to make it seem like she and Rana Sanaullah were planning to leak personal video clips of Imran Khan.
On 26 December 2022, a Twitter handle called Naya Pakistan uploaded a video clip alleging that it contains a leaked conversation between Maryam Nawaz Sharif and Rana Sanaullah, where they are coordinating a plan to leak video clips of Imran Khan.
In this audio clip, it seems as if Maryam Nawaz Sharif is asking Rana Sanaullah to leak a compromising video clip of Imran Khan in an attempt to blackmail her political opponents.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check found a video of Nawaz using the exact same words at a press conference on 4 October 2022.
In the doctored clip shared on Twitter, Nawaz is heard saying: “Us say video leli hai… Ap unko unki video dikha kar blackmail krein aur unsay apnay mukhalifeen k khilaf faislay lein… ilzaam lagao bhalay baad mein wo ilzaam ka dharam takhta hojae.” [Translation: Take the video… So you show them the video and blackmail them into giving out decisions against their political opponents… Accuse them even if the accusations are proven wrong.]
Exact excerpts can be matched with the audio of the October press conference in which she is saying the same in the context of cases filed against her by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). She alleges that former NAB chief Justice Javed Iqbal was blackmailed through video clips, so he could be forced to give decisions against Khan’s political opponents, which in this case, were Maryam Nawaz and Nawaz Sharif. In the quotes taken from this press conference, Maryam Nawaz is referring to herself in the third person.
These quotes are clipped from the longer press conference and taken out of context to imply that Maryam Nawaz Sharif is talking about leaking a video of Imran Khan instead of discussing how the NAB wrongfully prosecuted her in her opinion.
Virality
Soch Fact Check conducted a CrowdTangle analysis for the 4-day period since 26 December 2022 to 29 December 2022 using the following search terms:
- “Maryam Nawaz” “Rana Sanaullah” “audio leak”
We found the same doctored audio shared on Facebook here, here, here, here, here, and here, gathering over 21,786 interactions.
On Twitter, we found the claim shared here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
Conclusion: Audio of Maryam Nawaz and Rana Sanaullah planning to leak private videos of Imran Khan is fake. The audio is actually from an old press conference and was doctored to support the claim.