Pakistan police protest video falsely linked to arrest of Imran Khan's partymate

Footage of Pakistan police protesting in the wake of deadly militant attacks has surfaced in social media posts falsely claiming it shows a demonstration for the release of politician Sher Afzal Marwat. Considered one of the leaders of Pakistan's opposition party, he was detained after a rally on September 8. However, the protest was linked to police killings in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

"The tribe of Sher Afzal Khan Marwat started a protest in Lakki Marwat against the arrest of Afzal Khan Marwat," read an Urdu language X post from September 9.

The post, shared 10,000 times, shows a video of crowds of people gathered.

Marwat, a lawmaker from the party of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, was arrested on September 9, a day after a major rally in the capital Islamabad (archived link).

He and nine other MPs from Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party were charged under a new protest law and the anti-terrorism act.

The anti-terrorism court granted them bail of 30,000 rupees ($100).

They were accused of violating the Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Act, passed just days before the rally was held, in a move rights groups say was an attempt to curb freedom of expression and peaceful protest.

PTI has faced a sweeping crackdown since Khan was jailed in August last year on a series of charges he says are politically motivated and designed to keep him from power.