Spain court jails two Catalan separatist leaders

MADRID: Spain moved closer on Monday to imposing central rule over Catalonia to thwart its independence push as Madrid’s High Court signalled a hardening line by jailing the leaders of two of the largest separatist organisations.

In the first imprisonment of senior secessionist figures since Catalonia’s Oct 1 independence referendum, the court ordered the heads of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) and Omnium held without bail pending an investigation for alleged sedition.

Prosecutors say ANC’s Jordi Sanchez and Omnium’s Jordi Cuixart played central roles in orchestrating pro-independence protests that last month trapped national police inside a Barcelona building and destroyed their vehicles.

Around 200 flocked to Catalan government headquarters in Barcelona in a peaceful show of support for both men.

The ANC, which has organised protests of hundreds of thousands of secessionists in the past, called for more peaceful demonstrations around Catalonia yesterday.

Catalan regional President Carles Puigdemont commented on Twitter: “Spain jails Catalonia’s civil society leaders for organising peaceful demonstrations. Sadly, we have political prisoners again” – an allusion to Spain’s army dictatorship under Francisco Franco.

The High Court also banned the Catalan police chief, Josep Lluis Trapero, from leaving Spain while he is being investigated over the same incident. – Reuters