Fact check: Shibli’s ‘remarks about Imran’s suicide bids’ are false

A team of professional investigators reached the conclusion after a thorough probe

Photo: The Daily Azb

A STATEMENT attributed to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shibli Faraz about Imran Khan’s “attempts to kill himself in jail” is false, said a credible team of investigators tasked with checking facts cited in media reports.

On Sept 28, a screenshot of news tickers allegedly taken from ABN News was shared on X by a user — who appeared to be a PML-N supporter — showing quotes attributed to Mr Faraz about Mr Khan. The post’s caption said: “Disclosures by Shibli Faraz on ABN News.”

It then quoted the senator as allegedly saying: “Imran Khan attempted suicide twice in jail. The people of Imran Khan’s house want to hang Imran Khan. Imran Khan is sure that he will be sentenced to life imprisonment or hanging by the military court.” The post was seen by over 9,000 people.

The same set of quotes and news tickers was shared by another X user, whose post was viewed by more than 6,000 people. The same screenshot was shared on social media platform Facebook.

However, the team of iVerify Pakistan, which is run by the Centre of Excellence in Journalism at the Institute of Business Administration, has reviewed the content and said it is false.

The team conducted a reverse image search to verify if the respective media outlet shared anything of the sort. Further investigation showed that the PTI also took up the matter on Sept 29, on both its X and Instagram accounts, sharing the circulated screenshot and confirming it was fake.

Their captions warned, “Be aware of fake news.”

After a thorough probe, the iVerify Pakistan team reached the conclusion that the content was false. “The quotes attributed to the PTI leader are fake and fabricated, having been confirmed as such by both the party and the news outlet who they were allegedly attributed to,” said a statement issued by the team.