Three major U.K. publishers last week apologized and paid damages to an Algerian man they accused of being a “gangster” and offering a safe house to terrorists, among other false claims. The publishers removed the offending pieces from their websites and published online notices about the apology and a recent court appearance.
Here’s the apology from Metro U.K.:
Metro and other publishers yesterday told the High Court they had paid substantial damages to an Algerian man for wrongly reporting that he offered a safe house in France to British al-Qaeda terrorists.
Associated Newspapers, the publisher of MailOnline and Metro; The Telegraph Media Group; MGN, the publisher of the Daily Mirror; and the publisher of the Daily Express apologised to Farid Boukemiche, 40. Some reports said he was on trial in France in January 2011 for associating with a known terrorist organisation and for financing terrorism. Others alleged he was a ‘gangster’ accused of carrying out robberies or had admitted to robbery.
The High Court heard the articles had been withdrawn from the newspapers’ websites, that they had accepted that the allegations were untrue and they had apologised to Mr Boukemiche.
Read the similar offerings from MailOnline and the Daily Telegraph.
