MADRID, OCT 17 (DNA) – A Spanish court has ordered two powerful Catalan separatists to be detained, threatening a further escalation of the political crisis on Tuesday as both sides refuse to budge in their high-stakes standoff over the region’s independence bid. Protests broke out in Catalonia’s capital Barcelona on Monday as news spread that Jordi Cuixart and Jordi Sanchez were being kept behind bars on sedition charges. The pair are the leaders of pro-independence citizens’ groups Omnium Cultural and the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) respectively, both of which count tens of thousands of members and have emerged as key players in the Catalonia crisis.
They are accused of stirring up major protests in the run-up to the banned October 1 independence referendum in the region of 7.5 million people which has its own language and culture.
“The state is playing at provocation,” Catalan government spokesman Jordi Turull said after the National Court ruling, as the two groups furiously called on the people of Catalonia to protest, with a strike planned for Tuesday.
“I’m calling for Catalan society to peacefully protest tomorrow,” said Jordi Bosch, secretary general of Omnium Cultural.
Calls for protest spread on social media with demonstrations planned in Catalonia and beyond, including London. Some people stopped work briefly at midday to call for the “release of political prisoners”.
Hundreds of independence supporters gathered outside Catalan government offices, some singing the region’s hymn and holding signs that read “Freedom for political prisoners”.
Prior to his detention, Jordi Cuixart recorded a video message to be released only if he was held, which was sent out overnight.
“If you’re watching this video, it’s because the state has decided to deny me my freedom,” he said, adding that his organisation would work “underground” and peacefully to further their cause.
Catalan police chief Josep Lluis Trapero also appeared in court on sedition charges, facing up to 15 years in jail for allegedly encouraging protests and failing to stop the referendum — though he was allowed to walk free.
The ruling against Cuixart and Sanchez came after another day of twists and turns as Spain struggles with its worst crisis since it returned to democracy in 1977 following the death of dictator Francisco Franco.
Madrid warned Catalonia’s separatist leader Carles Puigdemont he only had three days to “return to legality” after he refused to say whether he would declare independence outright following the referendum outlawed by the courts and Madrid.
