Fairfax reaches settlement with teenager falsely accused of being terror suspect

Fairfax Media has reached a settlement with teenager Abu Baker Alam who was wrongly identified as terror suspect Numan Haider on the front pages of three of its newspapers last year.

The out of court settlement included a front page apology and letter to the community, a $20,000 donation to the construction of a proposed Afghan mosque in Doveton Victoria, and a confidential payment in damages, and comes after Alam moved to sue the newspaper publisher for defamation.

Today the publisher has carried stories titled “Fairfax Media says sorry” detailing the settlement and apology on the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age following the error in September 2014, which saw it wrongly run Alam’s image in place of Haider, who was shot after stabbing a police officer, on the front pages of the Age, Sydney Morning Herald and Canberra Times newspapers, along with two regional newspapers and on a number of its news websites.

Last year’s Fairfax front pages featuring the incorrect person. Source: Drew Sheldrick /Twitter