Afternoon Update: Jail term for protester condemned; Brian Houston trial begins; and dead Caspian seals

Fireproof Australia activist Violet Coco’s prison sentence has led to calls to protect the right to protest. Photograph: Carly Earl/The Guardian

The jailing of a protester in New South Wales has sparked an outcry, with independent senator David Pocock leading a chorus of condemnation amid calls to protect the right to protest.

“The right to protest is fundamental to our democracy,” the senator said after Deanna “Violet” Coco was sentenced to 15 months in prison, with a non-parole period of eight months. Her crime? Blocking a lane of traffic on the Sydney Harbour Bridge in April as part of a climate protest.