Decade-old photo of Imran Khan misrepresented as rumours about his detention swirl online

Published on December 16, 2025 at 09:26
2 min read
By Sachin BAGHEL, AFP India

Supporters of Pakistan's jailed ex-leader gathered outside his prison in November 2025 as rumours of his mistreatment and even death swirled online, but an image shared on social media purportedly showing him lying dead has been altered from a more than decade-old photo. The original photo was uploaded by Khan on his official X account in August 2014, when he launched a months-long march and sit-in protest against the government of then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

The image of Khan lying on a pillow on the ground was shared on November 26, 2025 in an X post claiming it was a "latest visual" of the former prime minister.

It alleges Khan had been killed in custody by Pakistan's military Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency.

Rumours about Khan's whereabouts and supposed death in detention prompted thousands of his supporters to gather outside the Adiala Jail where he is being held the same day the post surfaced, Pakistan newspaper The Financial Express reported (archived link). Authorities had reportedly barred visits to Khan.

Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote in 2022, and has since been jailed on a slew of corruption charges that he denies.

He has been in custody at the jail in Rawalpindi, just south of the capital Islamabad, for more than two years, with the United Nations' special rapporteur on torture warning that Khan is being held in conditions that could amount to torture and other inhuman or degrading treatment (archived link).

Screenshot of the false X post captured on December 10, 2025, with a red X added by AFP

The same image was shared with similar claims about Khan's death in similar Instagram and X posts.

"This is what happens to political prisoners there," read a comment on one of the posts.

Another said, "What the hell. We will burn down all of Pakistan."

But the image has been altered from a photo uploaded more than a decade earlier.

Moreover, Khan's sister has since said he is alive but facing "mental torture" after being allowed a prison visit on December 3 (archived link).

A reverse image search on Google led to a similar photo shared on Khan's official X account on August 17, 2014, which read "Night at the dharna" (archived link).

"Dharna" refers to a months-long protest march and subsequent sit-in organised by Khan to demand the resignation of then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif over alleged electoral fraud (archived link).

The falsely shared image is a cropped version of the photo, and has been edited to make it appear as if Khan's eyes are open.

Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared image (left) and Khan's X post from August 2014 (right)

Indian English-language newspaper The Hindu also included the photo shared on Khan's X account in its report about the protests that began in August 2014 (archived link).

AFP previously debunked a similar claim that the 2014 photo showed Khan after an assassination attempt in 2022.

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