In the ensuing media fallout over the incident which saw 18 year-old Abdul Numan Haider – the quote “terror suspect” – shot dead by police after he allegedly stabbed two officers in the car park of the Endeavour Hills police station in Melbourne’s southeast, the scramble to procure images of the deceased man in order to run them on front pages was particularly fierce. Fairfax Media ran one such image on the front page of their flagship publications Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and the Canberra Times on Thursday.
The only problem there, was that the person in the image was not Abdul Numan Haider.
The image that Fairfax mistakenly ran was of Abu Bakhar Alam – a profoundly innocent man, totally unconnected to the case through any means that don’t involve his general appearance.
What’s worse, is that the mistaken image was run directly above, or alongside, inflammatory headlines such as “Teenage Terrorist,” “Teen Jihad,” and “Teen Takes Terror to the Streets,” whilst dubbing the image of Alam as a “schoolboy turned fanatic” who “set terror trap for police.”
And now, despite Fairfax running an apology – which, for the record, was buried away on their news websites, which kind of really doesn’t undo the damage of nationwide front pages – Alam now fears leaving the house thanks to the threat of being recognised and unduly labelled a terrorist (and subsequently open to potential attack) by members of the public.
Fairfax unreservedly apologised to “the man in the suit,” but Alam fears it won’t do him any good. Speaking to the ABC‘s Lateline program, Alam stated he was scared and terrified and now fears for the safety of his family.
“I know that people are going to recognise me and they might harm me and my family. The apology doesn’t – it’s not going to get that reputation that we had within the community [back]. We’ve had a good one. We haven’t had a bad name.“
Alam and his family are originally from Afghanistan, but after a suicide bomber killed a family member in 2007, they were granted sanctuary in Australia under the Government’s humanitarian program.
“We came here to live – have a happy life, not being – not live in a country where we can’t live freely, have the freedom to express ourselves.“
Mr Alam stated that he has no idea how the photo – taken at an engagement party, but never uploaded to his social media pages – wound up in the hands of Fairfax Media, much less the front page of some of the country’s most widely circulated daily presses.
The family is now considering legal action against Fairfax Media.
Abu Bakhar Alam is due to graduate high school at the end of this year.
Photo: Saeed Khan via Getty Images.
