Fake Document Detailing Terms of Imran Khan’s Arrest Goes Viral
BOOM found that the document is fabricated, and no such deal was made between Imran Khan, the US Ambassador, and the Interior Secretary.
A fabricated document that claims to show an agreement signed between former Pakistan PM and chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) Imran Khan and the government of Pakistan is going viral online. The document claims to show the terms of Imran Khan's arrest, which include points such as him not being raped or interrogated naked. BOOM found that the document is fabricated and no such agreement was made between the two parties.
After months of evading arrest, Imran Khan was brought into custody on May 9 while he was appearing in the Islamabad High Court for charges of corruption, terrorism, blasphemy, and sedition, among others. The Supreme Court, however, has ruled that Khan's arrest was illegal and has ordered for his immediate release.
The document purporting to state the terms of Khan's arrest, is being shared in this context to claim that Khan entered a deal with the government of Pakistan and the US Ambassador, which assured that he would not be raped or interrogated while being naked during his arrest. Dated May 8, 2023, the viral document bears the letterhead of PTI and signatures of Imran Khan, US Ambassador Donald Blome, and Interior Secretary Yousuf Naseem Khokhar.
Here are the terms stated in the document:
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.
A photo of the document was shared on Twitter with the caption, "Pakistan army was planning to Rape Imran Khan. Even Former PM is not safe from lust of ISI."
Click here to view the tweet and here for an archive.
Click here to view the tweet and here for an archive.
FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the document is fabricated and no such agreement between the government of Pakistan and Imran Khan has been made public.
We found that Yousaf Naseem Khokhar, Interior Secretary named in the document retired on March 7, 2023, two months before this agreement was made. Moreover, his name is also spelled wrong-- his spelling is Yousaf Naseem Khokhar, not Yousuf Naseem Khokhar.
In addition to this, we found that the viral document had some formatting distinctions when compared to original notifications issued by the PTI. The two examples below show original notifications from the PTI website where the date in the reference number is written in the YYYY format.
However, the viral document shows the year in the reference number written in the YY format. See below:
We also found a tweet published by Pakistan-based news outlet Geo TV that had fact-checked this claim. Uploaded on May 10, the tweet read, "An official privy to the development told 𝘎𝘦𝘰 𝘍𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬, on the condition of anonymity, that no such agreement was signed between Khan and the U.S. ambassador."
BOOM spoke to the editor of Geo Fact Check, Benazir Shah, who informed that their team spoke to anonymous sources in the Interior Ministry of Pakistan as well as the US Embassy to confirm that the document was fake.
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