Claim: A video statement of Imran Khan was recorded just before his arrest on 9 May 2023.
Fact: The video statement of Imran Khan was actually posted in October 2022.
On 9 May 2023, the Press Trust of India (PTI) posted a video statement (archive) of former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan, shortly after he was arrested by Pakistan Rangers from the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) premises on the orders of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) as he was set to appear for a hearing in the Al-Qadir Trust case.
The PTI captioned the tweet as follows:
“VIDEO | “All this is being done because they want me to accept the corrupt, imported government that has been forcefully imposed on us,” says Imran Khan in video statement recorded ahead of his arrest.”
In the video in question, the PTI chief makes the following remarks:
“What is being done today is not because I have broken any law but only because they want to force me to step back from the Haqeeqi Azadi tehreek [Real Freedom campaign]. It is being done because they want to force me to accept this corrupt cabal of crooks that have been imposed on us. I appeal today to everyone that you all have to come out for your rights, for your Haqeeqi Azadi. No nation has ever been handed freedom on a plate, you have to struggle for it, do jihad for it, work hard for it. And then God gives the gift of freedom to the whole nation. The time has come for you all to come out for your rights.”
In other, longer versions, he says the following before the aforementioned remarks:
“My fellow Pakistanis, when these words of mine reach you, I will already be imprisoned in an unlawful case. This should make one thing clear to all of you: that the fundamental rights in Pakistan, the rights the Constitution provides us, and the democracy have been buried. It is possible that I might not get a chance to speak to you all again. That’s why I want to talk to you about two or three things. First off, the Pakistani nation has known me for 50 years… I’ve been in the public eye for 50 years. I have never gone against Pakistan’s Constitution and I’ve never broken the law. Since I’ve been in politics, I have always tried that whatever struggle I do, it is peaceful and within the ambits of the constitutional right to protest peacefully.”
Imran Khan’s 9 May 2023 arrest (archive) had led to Pakistan-wide protests, which culminated in the death of at least eight people, while 1,400 others were detained and 145 police officers were wounded, according to a report (archive) that cited authorities.
Khan was later released when the Supreme Court of Pakistan intervened, a 14 May report (archive) said.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check used reverse image search tools to ascertain that the video is actually much older than it is claimed to be.
We found that the Twitter account @Haqeeqat_TV had posted the video (archive) on 21 October 2022.
The claim that the video of Imran Khan addressing the nation was made shortly before his arrest is, therefore, misleading.
Virality
Soch Fact Check found the video posted here, here, and here on Twitter, here, here, here, here, and here on Facebook, and here and here on YouTube.
Multiple Indian media outlets — including ANI News, ETV Bharat, Tribune India, Zee News, and One India — also picked up the video and put out reports.
Even CNN appears to have fallen for the old video, as evident here (archive).
Conclusion: The video statement of Imran Khan was actually posted in October 2022. It has now been misreported by multiple social media accounts and Indian outlets.
Background image in cover photo: @ImranKhanOfficial
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