Benjamin Cohen, falsely accused of murders in Australia, files complaint and seeks compensation

The perils of live… On Sunday April 14, six people were killed in a horrific knife attack at a Sydney shopping centre, with Australian 24-hour news Channel Seven News broadcasting the events live. Influenced by theories circulating on social networks, one of their journalists announced on the plane that the prime suspect had been identified.

“Suspected hitman Benjamin Cohen, 40, was wearing an ARL Kangaroos (national rugby team) jersey,” he confirmed at around 6am. His colleague's comments were echoed a few minutes later, who announced: “The attacker, Benjamin Cohen, 40 years old, is known to the police, his motivations are still unknown, he worked alone”.

However, this information was false and the journalist did not care to verify it with police evidence,” Guardian “.

A secret agreement

The mother of the legendary Benjamin Cohen called the editorial staff to express her displeasure, and the young student filed a “defamation” complaint against the channel, hiring a lawyer and seeking damages from Seven News. The two sides finally reached a financial agreement — which was kept secret.

“Identity [de Benjamin Cohen] It was a serious mistake, the director of the channel admitted in a letter to the victim. These claims are completely false and baseless. Seven retracts these false allegations and apologizes for the harm caused to you and your family by Seven's statements about you. »

For his part, the young man was completely unknown and his name spread on the evening X of the attack, with people claiming to recognize him. Benjamin Cohen believes that it was this rumor that led the journalist astray. He criticizes: “Users who abuse a platform to target individuals or communities should be held accountable for the consequences of their actions and platforms should be held more accountable for the content they provide.”