Claim: According to a letter issued by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Central Secretariat, the Government of Pakistan and Imran Khan have made a bilateral agreement that Khan will not be forced to strip naked or subjected to any kind of torture through metal rods and bamboo sticks or sexual violence. The letter also stated that these conditions of the agreement will be supervised by US Ambassador Donald Blome.
Fact: PTI’s digital media strategist Imran Ghazali confirmed that such an agreement has not been reached between the party and the government.
On 8 May 2023, a letter with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Central Secretariat letterhead went viral on WhatsApp. This letter claimed that the PTI Chairman and the current government had reached an agreement under the supervision of US Ambassador Donald Blome.
The text of this letter is as follows:
“The following agreement is entered into by and between the parties 1) Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Government Of Pakistan.Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had asked for following sureties while he is kept in custody in jail.
1) Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), will not be forced to be naked while being interrogated.
2) No one will be allowed to Rape Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaf (PTI), specially while he is patient of Piles (Hemorrhoids).
3) Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), will not be tortured with any kind of Rods, Bamboo (Sticks), etc.
Note: All these terms and conditions will be supervised and inspected by Mr. Donald Blome US Ambassador in Pakistan, as Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), do not trust anyone but Mr.Donald Blome in this regard.”
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check spoke to Imran Ghazali, the digital media strategist for Khan and his party, who confirmed that this letter is fake and that no such agreement has been signed by Donald Blome, PTI and the Government of Pakistan.
Additionally, we reviewed all mainstream news channels such as Geo News, ARY, SAMAA and Dawn and did not find any reports about such a letter, or any news of such an agreement having been reached between the three aforementioned parties.
Soch Fact Check also got in touch with the US embassy in Islamabad and was told by the telephone operator that all such decisions regarding brokering agreements, mediating or any documented clarification are regularly updated on the US embassy website. We did not find any such announcement on the website either.
Virality
Soch Fact Check found that this letter was forwarded many times on WhatsApp. The claim was also widely shared on Twitter, mostly by Indian accounts, we found some examples here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: US Ambassador Donald Blome did not broker an agreement between PTI and the government.