Doctored video used to falsely claim hidden powers influenced Pakistan's former chief justice
- Published on July 8, 2026 at 07:03
- 3 min read
- By AFP Pakistan
Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Imran Khan and his party have repeatedly accused the country's powerful military of orchestrating his downfall, but video circulating on social media purportedly showing the former chief justice saying "powers that are not visible in the media" influenced cases uses fabricated audio. The video was lifted from a 2022 conversation at the Oxford Union, where Qazi Faez Isa did not mention Khan, his party or outside powers influencing decisions. The audio in the falsely shared video does not correspond to what is shown in the clip, which was flagged as likely to have AI-generated speech by a detection tool.
"Judge Faez's confession of guilt!!" says part of the Urdu-language Facebook post, shared by the verified account of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party's Sindh chapter on June 27, 2026.
"When the courts are no longer independent and justice starts following the dictates of the powerful circles then the rule of law is not established but the rule of power!!"
A video attached to the post appears to show an interviewer asking Pakistan's former chief justice Qazi Faez Isa whether he has a "personal fight" with jailed former prime minister Imran Khan.
Isa responds that his powers in most cases are limited before going on to say that "some powers that are not visible in the media also have an impact on these cases which I cannot name here".
The video was also shared in similar Instagram and X posts.
While Khan and his PTI party have criticised Isa over rulings he handed down while chief justice between September 2023 and October 2024, the posts also seem to allude to accusations that the military orchestrated the former prime minister's downfall (archived here, here, and here).
Initially a strong backer of the country's powerful military leadership, Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote in 2022, and has since been jailed on a slew of corruption charges that he denies (archived link).
The posts also coincided with the rising international profile of influential army chief Asim Munir, who has been acting as a mediator between Tehran and Washington in efforts aimed at ending the Middle East war (archived link).
A former intelligence chief, he became army head in 2022 and a consolidation of military power in Pakistan has seen the field marshal given an extended term.
Isa, however, did not say that "not visible" powers had influenced cases. The circulating video has been doctored with fabricated audio.
A reverse-image search using keyframes led to similar footage shared by the Oxford Union on October 9, 2022 (archived link).
The video is titled, "Justice Qazi Faez Isa: Pakistani Supreme Court Justice | Full Q&A at The Oxford Union".
During the hour-long conversation, Isa -- who was a Supreme Court judge at the time -- discussed a range of topics, including his family, the role of the judiciary, judicial activism and social issues.
But he did not mention Khan, his PTI party or hidden powers influencing cases.
A subsequent review of the falsely shared clip shows Isa's words do not match up with the movement of his lips, and the voices of the former chief justice and the interviewer are different from those heard in the October 2022 video.
An analysis conducted by the Hive Moderation AI detection tool concluded the video was likely to have AI-generated speech (archived link).
AFP has previously debunked misinformation about Pakistan's politicians.
Copyright © AFP 2017-2026. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us
