Russian ambassador congratulates Imran Khan on cipher case acquittal

Rating Justification

The iVerify Pakistan team has reviewed this content and determined that it is false.

To reach this conclusion, the iVerify Pakistan team investigated the claim by checking whether the Russian embassy in Pakistan addressed the matter.

Multiple posts circulating on social media since June 3, 2024, claimed that the Russian ambassador in Pakistan congratulated PTI founder Imran Khan on his acquittal in the cipher case. However, there is no evidence for this and the Russian embassy also did not post anything to this effect.

A special court had sentenced Imran and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to 10 years in jail in the cipher case on January 30. The two were acquitted by the Islamabad High Court on June 3 as it accepted their appeals against their convictions.

The cipher case pertains to a diplomatic document that the Federal Investigation Agency alleges was never returned by Imran during his term as the prime minister. Imran long held that the document contained a threat from the US to topple his government.

HOW IT STARTED

On June 3, 2024, an X user, who appeared to be a PTI supporter based on his past posts, shared the screenshot of an X post featuring Imran and Russian President Vladimir Putin from February 2022.

The caption of the screenshot said, “Breaking news: Russian ambassador to Pakistan sent congratulatory message to former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan on the victory in cipher case in Islamabad High court.”

Meanwhile, the caption of the post by the PTI supporter said, “The process of congratulations from foreign countries has begun.”

The post gained over 68,000 views on Twitter.

It was worth noting that the screenshot mentioned the Russian ambassador to Pakistan but posted the image of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The same claim and image were shared by other PTI supporters here, here and here with more than 3,600 views on Twitter.

METHODOLOGY

A fact check was initiated to determine the veracity of the claim due to its virality and keen public interest in the matter since it pertained to the PTI founder and the Russian ambassador.

To verify the claim, social media accounts affiliated with the Russian government were investigated, yielding an X post on June 4, 2024, of the Russian embassy that seemingly addressed the matter in an indirect manner.

The post said, “The embassy of Russia in Islamabad is closely following the developments in Pakistan, including the political situation and court decisions. However, we believe that it is up to the Pakistani people to react to and comment on these developments.”

In a subsequent post, it added, “Please note that the official pages of the embassy of Russia on social media platforms are the only credible source of information on our ambassador’s engagements and activities.”

Searching the embassy’s social media accounts for updates on the activities of the Russian ambassador showed nothing to do with the PTI or its founder.

FACT-CHECK STATUS: FALSE

The claim regarding the Russian ambassador congratulating Imran on his cipher case acquittal is false.

The Russian embassy said that it was up to the people of Pakistan to comment on its domestic events and further said that it was the only source for information relating to the ambassador’s activities. Posts by the embassy showed nothing concerning the ambassador and the PTI or Imran.

Evidence and References

June 4, 2024, X posts of Russian embassy in Pakistan:
https://perma.cc/32D6-CLNX
https://perma.cc/4MUS-8QTE