Old protest clip outside Pakistan ex-PM's jail shared as recent

Published on December 16, 2025 at 07:47
2 min read
By Rimal FARRUKH, Masroor GILANI, AFP Pakistan

Supporters of Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan staged a sit-in outside his jail in November 2025, saying he is being denied prison visits from lawyers and family. But claims online that one of Khan's allies was beaten by police during the recent protest are baseless. The clip shared in the posts depicts a scuffle outside Khan's detention centre in May.

"Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Suhail Afridi, was severely beaten by the military regime's militias," reads an X post shared November 27, 2025, misspelling the name of Khan's ally and the northwestern province's Chief Minister Sohail Afridi.

The accompanying clip, which the post describes as a "breaking" event, shows officers pushing and dragging Afridi as he is surrounded by a crowd.

Screenshot of the false post taken on December 2, 2025 with a red X added by AFP

Afridi joined a sit-in outside Adiala Jail on November 27 where Imran Khan is held, saying prison authorities had denied him a meeting with the former leader (archived link).

According to local newspaper Dawn, the sit-in ended the morning of the following day (archived link).

Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party has also expressed worries over his health (archived link).

Pakistan Information Minister Attaullah Tarar dismissed the concerns during a press conference on November 30, saying Khan is "hale and hearty" and that he enjoys "five-star hotel facilities" in prison (archived link).

Khan's sister Uzma Khan was later granted a meeting with Khan, and his other sister Aleema Khan told UK broadcaster Sky News that he is healthy and alive but isolated and under mental duress (archived link).

Similar videos have been shared elsewhere on X, but Afridi's office told AFP on December 16: "There has not been any incident with police since Mr Afridi became the chief minister."

Moreover, reverse image searches of keyframes reveal the clip actually shows a scuffle between police and Afridi over another dispute on visiting Khan several months ago.

The video was uploaded on X on May 6 with Urdu-language caption that reads: "Please observe the police's behaviour against PTI's Sohail Afridi" (archived link).

Screenshot comparison between the false post (L) and the video from May 2025

PTI members and police clashed outside Adiala Jail on the day in Punjab province after prison authorities barred Khan's fellow party members and relatives from visiting, local news outlet Minute Mirror reported (archived link).

Khan's verified YouTube account posted a livestream of the incident (archived link). Afridi can be seen in the same attire as seen in the falsely shared video.

Comparison of Afridi's attire in the false posts (L) and in the livestream on Khan's YouTube account

PTI Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter's Facebook account reshared the video on October 16 to mark Afridi's appointment as the state's chief minister, with a caption saying it shows him being dragged by the police during the protest in May (archived link).

People in the false clip are also seen wearing short-sleeved shirts without jackets or coats -- in contrast to footage seen in a PTI livestream covering the late November sit-in outside the Adiala Jail (archived link).

AFP has debunked other false claims related to Khan here and here.

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