PTI chief Imran Khan growing a beard during incarceration

Rating Justification

The iVerify Pakistan team has checked this content and has established that it is false since the actual image is from August 2023.

To arrive to this verdict, the IVerify Pakistan team has conducted a reverse image search and ran the image through a fake image detecting tool.

HOW IT STARTED

On January 30, 2024, a social media user, who appears to be a PTI supporter based on her past posts and header display, posted an image of former prime minister Imran Khan on social media platform X in which he can be seen with a beard.

The user questioned if the picture was a current one of the PTI founder. The post gained over 199,000 views and was shared 1,100 times.

The same photo was shared by other X users here, here, here and many others, all asking the same question if the image was a current one.

METHODOLOGY

The iVerify Pakistan team sought to determine the veracity of the claim due to the public’s keen interest in the former prime minister who is presently incarcerated in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail.

The image also went viral the same day Imran was convicted and sentenced to a 10-year prison term in the cipher case.

Initially, the iVerify Pakistan team ran the viral image through the image manipulation detection tool Fake Image Detector.

According to the results, the viral photo in which the beard is visible seems to be either computer-generated or a modified image.

A reverse image search of the tampered photo yielded an X post of PTI lawyer Mashal Yousafzai from August 1, 2023.

The lawyer had posted the same photo with Imran but notably, it did not have the beard as the viral image.

Furthermore, Dawn reporter Umer Burney, who has been covering the PTI founder’s court hearings in Adiala Jail and has been seeing him up close, also confirmed to the iVerify team that the picture was fake and Imran was still currently clean-shaven.

IMRAN KHAN’S INCARCERATION

On Aug 5, the PTI chief was sentenced to three years of imprisonment by an Islamabad trial court in a case related to state gifts. The case, filed by the Election Commission of Pakistan, had accused the PTI leader of not mentioning the details of state gifts in his tax declarations.

The Islamabad High Court set aside the sentence on Aug 29 and ordered his release. However, he was not freed as he was undergoing trial in the cipher and other cases.

The PTI chief currently remains incarcerated in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail.

According to a Jan 30 Dawn.com report, a special court established under the Official Secrets Act had handed both Imran and ex-foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi 10 years in jail in the cipher case.

The cipher case pertains to a diplomatic document that the Federal Investigation Agency’s charge sheet alleges was never returned by Imran. The PTI has long held that the document contained a threat from the United States to oust Imran as prime minister.

CONCLUSION

The iVerify Pakistan team has determined that the claim and associated image of Imran currently growing a beard are false.

The original Aug 1 photo of the former prime minister does not show him with a beard and a reporter also confirmed that Imran has not currently adorned a bearded look.

Evidence and References

August 1, 2023 post of Mashal Yousafzai on X:
https://twitter.com/AkMashal/status/1686430559403384832?s=20