AFP Fact Check has debunked a viral video shared by supporters of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), saying the clip falsely shows former Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa admitting that he delivered biased rulings against jailed former prime minister Imran Khan.
The video, widely circulated on social media in March 2025, appears to show Isa saying that he had limited authority as chief justice and that unnamed powers influenced cases involving Imran Khan. Text added to the clip also claims Isa admitted that he had no personal enmity with Khan but could not make independent decisions because of Pakistan’s system.
AFP found that these claims are false. The fact-check said the video’s audio had been digitally manipulated to insert fabricated remarks that Isa never made.
Using reverse image searches, AFP traced the footage to a full interview and question-and-answer session held at the Oxford Union on October 10, 2022. The original video was published on the Oxford Union’s official YouTube channel.
According to AFP, Isa discussed Pakistan’s judiciary during the event, including the Supreme Court’s April 2022 ruling that declared Imran Khan’s dissolution of parliament illegal and ordered a no-confidence vote to proceed. However, he never admitted that the judiciary had acted with bias against Khan, contrary to the claims made in the edited clip.
AFP also noted that Isa was serving as a Supreme Court judge when the interview took place. He did not become Chief Justice of Pakistan until September 17, 2023.
To further verify the clip, AFP consulted digital forensics company GetReal Labs. The firm concluded that the video’s audio was likely generated using artificial intelligence, pointing to noticeable mismatches between Isa’s lip movements and the spoken words.
AFP said the circulating video uses fabricated audio to spread a false narrative and does not accurately reflect Isa’s original remarks.
