Old US prison photo falsely shared as 'cramped detention cell of ex-Pakistan PM Khan'

Published on October 20, 2023 at 07:45
3 min read
By AFP Pakistan

A photo of a rusty jail cell in a decommissioned US prison has been shared thousands of times alongside false claims it shows the conditions in which former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan has been held since August 2023. Authorities have not released photos of his cell as of October 20.

The image was shared on Facebook on October 1 by a pro-Khan page called Pakistan Presenter, which has over 450,000 followers.

"This is the class c prison cell where they are holding Imran Khan," reads part of its caption.

"This filthy tiny cell where there is only a hole on the right to use it as a tiolet (sic). I never thought they can stoop this low just to satisfy their ego and what a shameful nation we are."

A screenshot taken on October 14, 2023, of the false Facebook post ( AFP)

Khan was held for more than a month in what his spokesman called "deplorable conditions" in Pakistan's century-old Attock prison after being found guilty on August 5, 2023 in one of more than 200 cases he has faced since being booted from office in April 2022.

Although his jail sentence in the corruption case was suspended, a Pakistan court extended his detention on August 30 over separate allegations he leaked classified documents.

Khan has since been moved to a larger cell in a different prison in Rawalpindi, and in a statement released through his family on October 12 said he is "stronger and fitter than ever" (archived link).

The photo was also shared alongside similar false claims on Facebook here and here, and on X, formerly Twitter, here, here and here.

But Pakistani authorities have not released any photos of Khan in detention or his jail cell as of October 20, 2023.

Missouri prison

However, reverse image searches found the photo actually corresponds to images of a prison cell at the decommissioned Missouri State Penitentiary -- now a museum in the Midwestern United States (archived link).

A user on question-and-answer site Quora called Vernie Seidel responded to a question about solitary confinement with a nearly identical photo (archived link). His caption in part says: "This was taken at the Missouri State Penitentiary".

Responding to the posts, Seidel told AFP on October 18 he has visited the cell twice since getting out of prison himself.

"Anyone saying this is a prison cell in Pakistan is not telling the truth," he said.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo shared with the false claim (left) and the picture from Quora (right):

Screenshot comparison of the photo shared with the false claim (left) and the picture from Quora (right)

A search on Bing found local television channel Missouri KRCG13 published a similar photo of the prison cell in a report in October 2019 about the facility reopening after being damaged by a tornado (archived link).

"The prison is 100 years older than Alcatraz and serves as a historic landmark in Jefferson City," part of the report reads.

"The prison that hosted famous inmates, a gas chamber and a historic riot in 1954, was decommissioned in 2004 and has hosted historic tours ever since."

The cell seen in the false posts is also featured at the one-hour, two-minute, 48-second mark of YouTube video titled: "The MOST HAUNTED PRISON In America: Missouri STATE Penitentiary (SCARY Paranormal Activity)" (archived link).

Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo in the false posts (left), and the cell seen in the YouTube video (right), with similarities marked by AFP:

Screenshot comparison of the photo in the false posts (left) and the frame from the YouTube video (right) with similarities marked by AFP

AFP has previously debunked misinformation swirling around Khan's detention here, here and here.

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