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Fact Check: Video of Yalda Hakim on Imran Khan’s prison conditions is deepfake
A video on social media shows renowned journalist Yalda Hakim saying that claims regarding the prison conditions of former prime minister Imran Khan by his family and party are unsubstantiated and must be independently verified.
The video was shared after Hakim held an interview on Sky News with Imran Khan’s sons, Kasim and Sulaiman Khan, in which they mentioned that their jailed father was being kept in a ‘death cell’ and psychologically tortured.
The video was posted on X (formerly Twitter) by Pakistan journalist Wahajat Kazmi captioned: “Some sense from Yalda Hakim about Imran Khan is surprising.” The video has been viewed at least 244,000 times.
A translated transcript of the video is as follows:
“(Question): Yalda joins me now and clearly serious concern now about the conditions in which Imran Khan is being held. Yes, absolutely Mark. They describe Imran Khan’s condition as being held in a death cell.
“(Yalda): On international media, statements from PTI, particularly Khan’s sons and sisters, has highlighted allegations of isolation, psychological torture and complete solitary confinement. However, these claims require substantiation. To date, no court order, medical report or independent inspection has verified these assertions.
“While the concerns raised by Khan’s family deserves empathy, they must also be subjected to rigorous scrutiny.”
Fact Check
Fact Check Pakistan determined the video is manipulated by AI tools and has a voiceover. This is also evident by the facial expressions and other distortions seen in doctored videos.
Yalda Hakim also highlighted a ‘deepfake’ of her has been circulating online after the interview with Imran Khan.
“Following my interview with Imran Khan’s sons, Kasim and Sulaiman, a second AI deepfake of me has been circulated. This video is not real,” she said on X.
The original video was shared by Sky News on X and other social media platforms. The video show Hakim speaking about the interview with Imran’s son and how they described the prison conditions and mentioned was being kept in a ‘death cell’.
The video does not show her mentioning that the claims by Imran’s sister or party are not substantiated and must be independently verified. Thus, the claims are false.
