A UAE court has sentenced two people, including a television journalist, to two years imprisonment over a fabricated report on the Covid-19 deaths of five members of one family, state media said Thursday.
An investigation into the report, aired on a local TV Channel, quickly determined that it was false, authorities said in August.
"This incident negatively affected society, afflicted members of the community and left them in a state of confusion and fear of the outbreak," prosecutors said at the time.
"The Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal sentenced two defendants to two years in prison after convicting them of broadcasting a fabricated story about the death of five members of the same family from Covid-19," state news agency WAM reported.
The UAE has recorded more than 138,000 novel coronavirus infections so far, including 508 deaths.
