Rolling Stone Posts Boston Bomber on Magazine's Cover  

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's face is on the cover of the August edition of Rolling Stone magazine.

The cover shows Tsarnaev with tangled hair and beard with the title, "The Bomber" followed by "How a popular, promising student was failed by his family, fell into radical Islam and became a monster." 

This is the same photo used by various publications since the tragic bombing on April 15, 2013. Tsarnaev along with his brother, Tamerlan, are accused of being the Boston bombers. 

The cover has sparked uproar and a stream of criticism on social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook, and among leaders in Boston, where the marathon bombings killed three people, and wounded more than 200. 

This is not the first time Rolling Stone magazine has published a picture of an alleged sadist on its cover. In the 1970 June edition, Rolling Stone shocked the world by covering a story on brutal serial killer, Charles Manson. 

Despite sparking mass protest and criticism, the magazine has defended its cover story. Contributing Rolling Stoneeditor Janet Reitman wrote the feature on Tsarnaev, which entailed two months of interviewing dozens of sources, including Tsarnaev’s childhood and high school friends, teachers, neighbors and law enforcement agents, according to Rolling Stone.  

In a statement, the magazine said its thoughts were "always with" the bombing victims and their families. 

"The cover story we are publishing this week falls within the traditions of journalism and Rolling Stone's long-standing commitment to serious and thoughtful coverage of the most important political and cultural issues of our day," it said. "The fact that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is young, and in the same age group as many of our readers, makes it all the more important for us to examine the complexities of this issue and gain a more complete understanding of how a tragedy like this happens." 

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