Videos being prepared for my character assassination: Former Pak PM Imran Khan
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Imran Khan claimed that his political opponents have hired marketing companies to produce "fake videos" to tarnish his image
Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan has accused his political opponents of hiring companies to launch a character assassination drive against him.
During his interview on Wednesday to a private news channel, the cricketer-turned-politician alleged that the ruling coalition of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has hired marketing companies to produce "fake videos" to tarnish his reputation, reports The Express Tribune.
“They [the coalition parties] attack because these families have been involved in corruption for the last 35 years,” the PTI chairman stated.
His remarks come days after PTI-linked social media accounts warned supporters of the dangers of "deepfakes", videos which use a form of artificial intelligence called deep learning to create life-like but fake videos of people.
Accusing Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of engaging in “mafia politics”, Imran said, “I had to face mafias, the biggest of which is the Sharif mafia [...] they always attack on a personal level because are indulging in corruption for the past 35 years. When someone [points out] their corruption, they attack a person's character.”
Khan claimed that “the Sharif family” is planning to launch a campaign against him after Eid.
“Now that Eid is over, you will see that they are fully prepared.”
The former PM further said that his ex-wife Jemima Goldsmith was also targeted in the past and a similar campaign was run against her accusing her of being part of the "Jewish lobby".
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Earlier in the day, Khan announced that he would be kicking off his campaign for "true freedom" on Friday (May 6) by staging a rally in Punjab’s Mianwali city.
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(With inputs from agencies)