Justice is always served at the end of the day – especially if you’re in the UAE. In the middle of the COVID pandemic, governments around the world have been requesting people to not spread fake news or panic amongst others to keep the situation contained. 

However, recently a sports TV channel in Abu Dhabi reported that a family of five died due to coronavirus. 

The Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal has now found out that the entire story was completely fake and that a family like that does not even exist.

Not only was the story false, but the TV Presenter who took the story live also did not fact-check any detail

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He did not contact the authorities to confirm the accuracy of the story

The Public Prosecution: The channel’s correspondent, who is the second accused individual, contradicted his professional work duties and did not contact the relevant authorities to verify the accuracy of the information provided to him.#CommitToWin

— NCEMA UAE (@NCEMAUAE) August 25, 2020

In a recent development, the Federal Court of Appeal has ordered a two-year prison sentence for the TV presenter. Another guest who appeared on the show and was asked questions about the story is an expat in the UAE. 

The expat has also been jailed and will be deported back to his home country after the end of the sentence

محكمة استئناف أبوظبي الاتحادية تقضي بحبس المتهمين بنشر قصة مفبركة عن وفاة 5 أشخاص من عائلة واحدة نتيجة الإصابة بفيروس #كوفيد_19 #وام pic.twitter.com/YQlP3KLR0K

— وكالة أنباء الإمارات (@wamnews) November 5, 2020

This has been a tough year in so many ways and the last thing anyone wants is unnecessary rumours and fake news

via GIPHY