Petar Juršić: ideas and stories

Jailed politicians speaking through AI

7 min read

Two jailed politicians used AI to keep speaking to voters

Hook

A jailed ex-prime minister in Pakistan gave a speech in an AI copy of his own voice. A detained mayor in Tirana posted an AI video of himself. Both were labelled as AI, and both ask what “present in office” means.

Claim

AI makes it cheap for an absent leader to keep the appearance of governing. The hard questions are consent, labelling and context. The format is the point, not the man.

Story

Pakistan: on 17 December 2023 PTI ran a virtual rally for jailed former prime minister Imran Khan. It ended with a clip of about four minutes in an AI clone of his voice, made with ElevenLabs software. Per PTI, Khan sent a shorthand script through his lawyers and the party team expanded it into speech text (Dawn/AFP/Reuters; the Bulletin interview with PTI’s Jibran Ilyas says lawyers passed “topics and short phrases” and the team wrote the full text, “we didn’t add anything or subtract anything”). A caption at intervals read “AI voice of Imran Khan based on his notes”. The livestream is a five-hour stream in Dawn and “about seven hours” in CNN. Reach differs by source: over 1.4 million YouTube views (CNN, 18 Dec), over 4.5 million across Facebook, X and YouTube (Dawn/AFP), “more than five million” (PTI claim, Al Jazeera), over half a million YouTube views on day one (MediaNama). NetBlocks said major social media platforms were restricted for about seven hours that evening; the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority said it was investigating and that overall internet access appeared normal. Ilyas says the party paid “$9 first, but then we went for the $99 version” of ElevenLabs. PTI posted five AI appearances from December 2023 to June 2024 (a sixth for 14 August); the “victory speech” the day after the 8 February 2024 vote was the fourth. Khan as of 2026-11-04: still held at Adiala jail, Rawalpindi, with multiple convictions (for example 14 years in the Al-Qadir case and a 17-year Toshakhana-II sentence, per Wikipedia’s article last updated 19 October 2026; not re-checked in primary court or Reuters pages). Wikipedia also lists an eye condition, a Supreme Court order of 18 August 2026 to move him to hospital (taken to PIMS on 21 August and returned the same day), and political unrest in October 2026. He denies the cases and says they are meant to keep him out of politics.

Albania: Erion Veliaj, mayor of Tirana, was arrested on 10 February 2025 on SPAK’s request (corruption and money laundering; his wife Ajola Xoxa also charged; SPAK alleges about 1.1 million euro moved through non-profits tied to her, per Citizens.al). Counts: “nine charges” at arrest per Wikipedia (not independently confirmed); “a total of 13 charges” at trial stage per The Telegraph and Wikipedia. He denies wrongdoing and is not convicted. The Tirana council voted on 23 September 2025 to propose his dismissal; the Council of Ministers’ decision no. 539 of 25 September dismissed him; on 3 November 2025 the Constitutional Court, 5-3, annulled that decision (and the presidential decree setting new elections, Euronews Albania) on due-process grounds; it did not rule on the criminal case. After a May 2026 Constitutional Court order for a new review, the Supreme Court on 28 May rejected his request, and after a further Constitutional Court ruling in July the Supreme Court on 15 September 2026 kept him in detention (source for the 15 September date: Wikipedia and an op-ed carried by Albanian Daily News quoting his own lawyers; TNW confirms “in September” the High Court ruled he stays in custody; full reasoning not yet published at that time). On 6 October 2026 he posted a roughly four-minute AI video of himself on Instagram: the avatar says “for 20 months my hostage-taking has continued” and promises free lunches for every pupil, and lists 170 new schools, kindergartens and nurseries. Instagram tagged it as AI content (IBTimes, Telegraph). Over 3,000 likes and critical Albanian reaction (IBTimes). Per TNW and Top Channel he stays legal mayor with deputies doing day-to-day work, until local elections expected in 2027.

Sources

Check before posting

Open:

  • Veliaj is not convicted and denies the charges. Never call him guilty. Say “detained since February 2025, charges he denies”.
  • Khan status after 19 October 2026 not confirmed in a news source (Wikipedia only); re-check Dawn or Reuters the day of posting. The 14-year and 17-year sentence figures are from Wikipedia and have conflicting dates in it.
  • No ElevenLabs statement on the Khan clone found in any outlet opened; do not attribute one. No independent assessment of how much the clones affected votes.
  • Bolsonaro avatar (July 2026, son Flavio’s campaign launch) comes only via Top Channel’s relay of Politico and IBTimes/Telegraph; not opened at source.
  • Politico headline cited by Wikipedia (“deepfake speech”) could not be opened (page blocked or not found); do not quote it.
  • The same technology serves fake audio of rivals. Khan’s case was labelled, so it is a mild case, not a deepfake scandal. Resolved 2026-11-04: dates of arrest (10 Feb 2025), Constitutional Court (3 Nov 2025, 5-3), Supreme Court (28 May and 15 Sep 2026) and video (6 Oct 2026) confirmed; the “dismissed on 23 September” wording corrected (council voted to propose; Council of Ministers dismissed 25 September); wording of the video checked in five outlets (see brief); the CNA “copied Pakistan and Brazil” headline is not needed: Telegraph, Politico (via Top Channel) and IBTimes do place him beside Khan and Bolsonaro.

Counterargument

The Khan clone was labelled, so it is a case of disclosure, not deception. But a label can be dropped by an opponent, which is why provenance standards matter.

Post angles

Facebook (Croatian)

  • Zatvoreni Imran Khan održao je 2023. govor putem AI klona vlastitog glasa, uz natpis da je umjetan. Hoće li se takva oznaka poštovati uvijek? Kad glas može lagati, kome vjerujemo?
  • Gradonačelnik Tirane, u pritvoru zbog optužbi za korupciju koje poriče i za koje nije osuđen, objavio je AI video u kojem obećava besplatne školske ručkove. Pitanje je veće od njega: što je vladanje kad lice može biti generirano?

LinkedIn (English)

  • Imran Khan, jailed, addressed a rally in an AI clone of his voice, labelled with a caption, made with a $99 tool from a script based on his notes passed through his lawyers. The label is the lesson: disclosure against deception is the whole policy question.
  • Tirana’s mayor, detained since February 2025 on charges he denies and not convicted, posted a labelled AI video in October 2026 pledging free school lunches. The legal story is for the courts. The governance question is what “present in office” means when a clone can speak.

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