Al-Jazeera fined for Morocco riot

The court stopped short of giving Hassan Rachidi a jail term

A Moroccan court has fined al-Jazeera's bureau chief 50,000 Moroccan dirhams ($6,900) for what it said was a false report of police killing protesters.

The court had sentenced a human rights activist to six months in prison over the report earlier this week.

Al-Jazeera reported that police had killed between one and five people during a riot over food prices in the southern port of Sidi Ifni on 7 June.

Bureau chief Hassan Rachidi was expected to appeal against the verdict.

He insists that the channel correctly relayed reports of deaths from human rights activists.

The rights activist, Ibrahim Sabelail, was sentenced to a six-month prison term and a fine earlier this week for making the accusations of police killings.