The head of mission at ARY News says: “This is false information. We never broadcast this news’
Several people, including users who appear to be PTI supporters based on their past posts, shared an alleged ARY News visual on social media platform However, the image is fabricated and the media did not broadcast such information.
The former Prime Minister – who was imprisoned since 2023 for occultation details of Toshakhana gifts – serves a 14 years old sentence at Adiala prison in Rawalpindi in the £190 million corruption case.
The group and Imran’s family said he was being kept in solitary confinement, with restrictions on visitors meeting him in prison. They have repeatedly expressed concerns about his medical treatment, after it was revealed in January that he suffered an eye disease. His sons, Kasim Khan and Sulaiman Khan, are also campaigning for his release.
How it started
On May 13, an account that appears to be pro-PTI based on its past posts and bio, shared a picture on ARY News bulletin showing Sanaullah sharing the news that Imran would be released soon, with the caption: “Imran Khan is going to be released this week. Is this true??”
The post has been viewed 129,500 times.
Another pro-PTI account on X shared the same picture the same day, questioning the news with the caption: “Can anyone confirm this news? »
The post has been viewed 112,400 times.
Subsequently, other users on X also shared the same image, as can be seen here, here, hereAnd here.
Methodology
A fact check was launched to determine the veracity of this claim due to intense public interest in Imran’s incarceration and speculation surrounding his possible release from Adiala prison.
A keyword search to corroborate whether ARY News or any other credible Pakistani or international media outlet had recently reported that such remarks by Sanaullah had yielded no results.
Inspection of the image for visual discrepancies showed that Sanaullah’s ears appeared visibly blurred and distorted.
The yellow color used for the Urdu label “بریکنگ نیوز” (Breaking News) was also slightly darker than the original graphics carried by the media outlet in the breaking news box. Additionally, the “LIVE” bug and “ARY NEWS” The logo appearing in the lower right corner was blurry and lower resolution compared to the rest of the frame, indicating possible digital manipulation.
By analyzing the image using forensic tools, Fake Image Detector showed that it flagged the image as a 100% “computer-generated or modified image”.
Contacted for comment on the subject, Fayyaz Hyder Mangi, head of mission at ARY Newsprovided the following response:
“This is false information. We never broadcast this news. The absence of our single red line above the English ticker further confirms that this was fabricated using our color scheme and branding to mislead viewers.”
Furthermore, no statement of any kind on the issue was found from the PTI leadership, social media pages or Imran’s family.
Fact Check Status: False
The assertion that a ARY News The visual shows that a quote from Sanaullah about releasing Imran this week on humanitarian grounds is false.
The visual is fake and the media outlet did not carry such news, nor did Sanaullah make such comments.
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This fact check was originally published by iVerify Pakistan – a project of CEJ-IBA and UNDP.
