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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Crime & justice fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about crime & justice. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

6,854 published reviews in this topic

FACTLYCrime & justice

Disrespecting Indian flag and other national symbols is not a crime in J&K.

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns whether disrespecting India’s flag or other national symbols was exempt from criminal law in Jammu and Kashmir under the special-status arrangements discussed in the review. FACTLY marks that claim false. Its explanation says it checked whether the applicable national-honour legislation and flag rules provided an exception for J&K, and whether the relevant central enactment had been extended to the state. The review reports that it found no such exception in either the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971, or the Flag Code of India, 2002. It also points to a document titled “Central Enactments Applicable to State of Jammu and Kashmir,” which it says showed that the 1971 Act had been extended to J&K. On that stated evidence, the claim that disrespecting national symbols was not a crime there is false.

Deutsche Presse-AgenturCrime & justice

Ein im Internet verbreitetes Bild zeigt einen dunkelhäutigen Mann, der ein auf dem Boden krabbelndes, hellhäutiges Kleinkind anzugreifen scheint.

Publisher’s rating: Bei dem Bild handelt es sich um eine Fälschung. Das Bild des Kindes wurde in ein anderes Foto montiert.

The image in the claim is a manipulated version of a photograph from Kisumu, Kenya. The review says the online version combines a crop of the original scene with an image of a crawling child, making the child appear to be in the scene with the man. It also notes that parts of the original image were removed to make the composite look realistic. The underlying photograph shows a Kenyan man throwing a stone at the body of a man who had been killed during ethnic clashes. AFP photographer Yasuyoshi Chiba took it in Kisumu on January 29, 2008. That documented scene differs from the apparent attack on a child shown in the altered image: the child was inserted into the photograph rather than present in the original scene.

DUBAWACrime & justice

A claim that Ghana Police Service is undertaking a protocol recruitment.

Publisher’s rating: False

The review examined an advertisement bearing the Ghana Police Service logo and the name of DCOP Charles Kpapu Torkor, identified in the review as Commandant at the Ghana Police Command and Staff College. It said the advertisement promoted a “protocol recruitment,” directed interested people to contact a person called Mr Charles, and listed social-media handles. The review’s central finding was that the Police Service had rejected the advertisement as false. The account describes two checks: Dubawa tried to reach Mr Charles using the two phone numbers in the advertisement, but both were switched off or out of coverage; and the Police Service issued a denial through its official Twitter handle, warning the public not to do business with the advertisers. The failed calls alone do not establish who made the advertisement, but the official denial directly addresses whether the service was conducting the recruitment described in it. The review also placed the warning in the context of earlier fake enlistment offers. It reported that in March 2015 young people who had paid fraudsters arrived at police training depots with purported appointment letters, and that a separate incident in June 2015 involved people with fake offer letters waiting at a house in Accra. These examples are background reported by the review; its conclusion about the advertisement at issue rests on the Police Service’s denial.

Fact CrescendoCrime & justice

Claim: 729 murders held in Uttar Pradesh for last 2 months

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

A social-media post claimed that 729 murders and 800 rapes had occurred in Uttar Pradesh “in two months,” attributing the figures to BBC. It did not specify which two months or provide a BBC link. The review says it searched for a BBC report matching the claim and found none. The post had been shared on Facebook on July 31, 2019, by Syed Nasurudeen on the WORLD LOVE MARKETPLACE page. (S1: “இரண்டு மாதங்களில் மட்டும் உ.பியில் 729 கொலை, 800 கற்பழிப்பு #பிபிசி_செய்தி”; “ஆனால் எந்த இரண்டு மாதம் என்று குறிப்பிடவில்லை. பி.பி.சி செய்தி இணைப்பும் கொடுக்கப்படவில்லை.”; “இந்த பதிவை, WORLD LOVE MARKETPLACE என்ற ஃபேஸ்புக் பக்கத்தில் Syed Nasurudeen என்பவர் ஜூலை 31, 2019 அன்று பகிர்ந்துள்ளார்.”; “ஆனால், அப்படி எந்த ஒரு செய்தியையும் பி.பி.சி வெளியிடவில்லை.”) The investigation traced the numbers to a report published by Business Standard on July 17, 2017, based on a PTI report. As described in the review, the figures referred to crimes in the first two months after the government came to power—not to an unspecified recent two-month period. That report gave 729 murders and 803 rape cases, rather than the social post’s 800. (S1: “பிடிஐ வெளியிட்ட செய்தியை பிசினஸ் ஸ்டாண்டர்டு வெளியிட்டது நமக்குக் கிடைத்தது.”; “உத்தரப்பிரதேசத்தில் ஆட்சிக்கு வந்த இரண்டு மாதங்களில் 729 கொலைகளும் 803 பாலியல் வன்கொடுமை சம்பவங்களும் நடந்துள்ளது”) The review therefore identifies a real earlier report but says the post presented its figures as current and attributed them to BBC without support. It concludes that the post was misleading: the available account placed the figures in the first two months after the government took office, while the post gave no timeframe beyond “two months.” The review also reports that it found no BBC story of the kind cited in the post. (S1: “இந்த ஆதாரங்கள் அடிப்படையில், 2017ம் ஆண்டு வெளியான செய்தியை, தற்போது வெளியிட்டு, உ.பி-யில் குற்றச்சம்பவங்கள் அதிகரித்துள்ளன என்பது போன்ற தோற்றத்தை சித்தரிக்க முயன்றது உறுதியாகி உள்ளது.”; “பழைய சம்பவத்தை, பிபிசி பெயரில், தற்போது நடந்தது போலப் பகிர்ந்துள்ளனர்.”)

Deutsche Presse-AgenturCrime & justice

In einem Facebook-Post wird dem ZDF-Moderator Claus Kleber unterstellt, er habe nach der tödlichen Schwertattacke in Stuttgart in der Nachrichtensendung «Heute Journal» gesagt: «Ja es ist nicht schön am helllichten Tage mit einem Schwert hingerichtet zu werden - man muss aber auch sagen, das passiert heute viel seltener als unter Karl dem Großen!»

Publisher’s rating: Dieser Satz fällt im «Heute Journal» überhaupt nicht. Klebers vermeintliche Aussage ist frei erfunden.

The claim concerns a Facebook post that attributed a remark about the deadly Stuttgart sword attack and Charlemagne to ZDF presenter Claus Kleber, allegedly on «Heute Journal». The investigation checked the broadcasts on the dates relevant to the claim: the shortened «Heute Journal» aired on 31 July 2019 during a football match, and the programme on the following day. It reports that the quoted remark appeared in neither broadcast. The check also considered whether the words might have been said in another closely related ZDF news broadcast: it reports that presenter Petra Gerster did not say the quotation, or anything similar, on «Heute» on 1 August. Asked by dpa about the alleged words on 5 August, Kleber said the statement was fabricated and that he had not commented on Stuttgart. The article also reports finding no such statement on Kleber’s Twitter account. The evidence presented therefore addresses the specific attribution, rather than merely the broader event: the source says the quotation is absent from the identified broadcasts and reports Kleber’s direct denial. It does not provide a transcript or describe a frame-by-frame review, so the account should be understood as the checks and findings reported in the article.

NewtralCrime & justice

Un marroquí empujó a dos personas en el metro de Argüelles en Madrid

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim concerns an incident at Argüelles metro station in Madrid on 2 August 2019. Newtral reports that, according to the National Police, the man who attacked a passenger was Brazilian, not Moroccan. The account also contradicts the claim that two people were pushed: it describes one passenger being kicked in the back as a train entered the station. Newtral says it checked the assailant’s nationality with the National Police and the account of what happened to the passenger with Metro de Madrid. The passenger, a 23-year-old Spanish man, avoided being struck by the train by taking refuge in a space beside the tracks; Civil Protection took him away with a minor contusion. The review therefore identifies both the nationality and the number of people attacked in the claim as inconsistent with the information its named sources provided.