An Indonesian English-language newspaper on Friday apologised after it ran a front-page story erroneously declaring that 14 drug convicts had been executed.
Indonesia executed four convicted drug traffickers just after midnight Friday, after the attorney general’s office said 14 death-row inmates would be put to death.
The Jakarta Post said the paper had been printed before it learned that only four convicts, not 14, were shot by firing squad.
The Post’s chief editor, Endy Bayuni said the story was accompanied by a photo showing a sister of Pakistani drug convict Zulfikar Ali, who was among the 10 spared, weeping while holding his portrait.
“The failure to do the verification before running the story is completely unprofessional and a serious violation of the main principles of good journalism.
“The Jakarta Post sincerely apologises to all our readers, particularly to all those affected by the story, for this major failure,’’ Bayuni said.
NAN
