Cairo, Jun 4 (IANS/AKI): A court in Cairo has found activist Ahmed Douma guilty of insulting Egypt's Islamist president Mohammed Morsi and handed him a six-month suspended sentence.

Douma was also convicted of circulating false news on a TV programme.

The court said such acts "undermine state security and terrorise people", according to Al-Ahram Online.

The court set bail for Douma at 550 euros.

He is the first prominent critic of Morsi to be convicted on such charges. He was detained April 30, after he called Morsi a killer and a criminal.

Dozens of activists including Douma's wife Nourhanne Hifzi gathered outside the court Monday, protesting the sentence and chanted "Why is the government afraid of you, Douma?"

Douma claimed Morsi lost his legitimacy after a security crackdown on protesters in the coastal city of Port Said that left 40 people dead in February.

He also accused Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood group of being behind a brutal raid on peaceful protesters outside Morsi's office last year.