Old photo of ex-Pakistan PM Imran Khan at 'court sentencing' edited to include beard

The photo -- posted on X on January 30, 2024 -- appears to show former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan (pictured left) with a greying beard, sitting next to his lawyers Khawaja Haris and Mashal Yousafzai on a court bench.

It was shared on the same day a Pakistan court sentenced the former international cricketer to ten years in prison for leaking classified state documents at a hearing in Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, where he has been confined for much of the time since he was arrested in August (archived link).

The misleading post's caption says in Urdu: "A photo of our leader, our Khan during today's hearing".

In reality, only a handful of journalists were admitted to Khan's sentencing on January 30 and they were not allowed to take photos or videos.

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A screenshot taken on February 2, 2024, of the misleading post on X.

The manipulated image circulated online ahead of a general election in Pakistan that observers say has left the South Asian nation of 240 million at its most discouraged in years.

With Khan in jail and his party barred from contesting as a bloc, the field has been left open for the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) to win the most seats and give a fourth term as premier to its founder Nawaz Sharif.

Khan, who was booted from office by a vote of no confidence in April 2022, insists nearly 200 offences he has since been charged with have been fabricated by the military-led establishment to stop him from contesting elections.

The same doctored photo of Khan was posted here, here and here on X; and here, here and here on Facebook.

Some X users said the image was "fake" and "edited", but others appeared to believe it was genuine.

"Masha Allah (God has willed it) nice look," wrote one X user.

A reverse image search on Google confirmed the picture in the misleading posts was edited.

It was created from a photo posted on X showing a clean-shaven Khan in court in August 2023 (archived link).

The Urdu-language caption translates to English as: "We will stand by with you till the last drop of blood Mr Khan because you are our last hope." 

It was shared on the same day Khan appeared at Islamabad High Court to challenge the inquiry that found he had leaked state secrets. He also appeared at the Supreme Court on the same day for a plea hearing in the same case, Pakistan newspaper Dawn reported.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo in the misleading post (left) and the photo posted in August 2023 (right): 

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A screenshots comparison of the photo in the misleading post (left) and the photo published in August 2023 (right):

Zahir Abass, a lawyer in Khan's legal team, told AFP by phone on February 2, 2024 that his client was "clean-shaven" and had not grown a beard since his sentencing on January 30.

At the beginning of February, Khan was handed a concurrent 14-year sentence for graft alongside his third wife Bushra Bibi (archived link).

The pair were subsequently sentenced to a further seven years in prison after a court found their marriage was illegal under Islamic law.