Video supposedly showing protests against Imran Khan’s arrest was filmed in 2022

19 May 2023
What was claimed

A video shows people protesting Imran Khan’s 9 May arrest in front of Nawaz Sharif’s house in London.

Our verdict

This video was shared in April 2022, and shows people demonstrating outside a building owned by Mr Sharif in London following the ousting of Mr Khan as Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Following the arrest of former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan on 9 May a number of Facebook and Twitter posts claimed a video showed people protesting his arrest outside the London home of former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

One of the Facebook posts, shared on 11 May, was captioned: “A large number of Pakistanis are protesting Imran Khan’s arrest in front of Nawaz Sharif’s house in London”.

While the video does show people demonstrating outside a building reported to be owned by Mr Sharif, it was not filmed following Mr Khan’s recent arrest.

The video instead appears to have been originally shared on 17 April 2022, and shows people protesting in London a week after Mr Khan was ousted as Prime Minister following a parliamentary vote of no-confidence.

Images featuring similar details, such as cars parked in the same location, were also posted on Twitter on the same day in 2022.

The original video is longer than the clip being shared on Facebook over the last week, which also appears to have had music added to it.

Multiple news organisations have reported on protests taking place in London following Mr Khan’s arrest last week. The former Prime Minister was subsequently released after his arrest was ruled unlawful by Pakistan’s Supreme Court, although the situation continues to develop.

We often see videos and images taken out of context on social media as part of our work fact-checking online misinformation—we’ve published a guide with tips on how to check before you share if you’re not sure whether something may be misleading.

Image courtesy of The White House

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