A court in the Moroccan capital has fined Al Jazeera's Rabat bureau chief $6,000 over coverage of a protest last month. 

Hassan Rachidi was charged with publishing false imformation after the channel aired a report in which a human rights activist claimed that security forces had killed protesters in the south of the country.

The government has denied anyone being killed during the demonstrations over rising food prices  in the port city of Sidi Ifni.

The Moroccan rights activist who initially told journalists about the alleged abuses in Sidi Ifni last month, was sentenced on Thursday to six months' jail and a fine.