Coronavirus: Attorney-general greenlights fake news prosecution

Attorney general George Savvides on Wednesday gave the green light for the prosecution of three of the four people involved in the case of a fake post on social media claiming a 12-year-old child had died after receiving a Covid-19 vaccine.

“Today I gave my consent for the prosecution of three individuals in relation to spreading a fake news story of the death of a 12-year-old after his Covid-19 vaccination,” the attorney-general tweeted.

Έδωσα σήμερα συγκατάθεση για την άσκηση ποινικής δίωξης κατά τριών προσώπων σε σχέση με την υπόθεση διάδοσης ψευδούς είδησης θανάτου 12χρονου μετά από εμβολιασμό #Covid_19

— George L. Savvides (@SavvidesGL) August 25, 2021

This comes a day after police announced the case file has been closed and forwarded to the legal services.

Four people were charged over the incident and under the law – distributing fake news – they face up to two years in prison, a fine of up to €2,652 or both sentences combined.