In a move that is set to further infurate the Catalan separatists for whom the breakaway region's police chief has emerged as a quasi-folk hero, and prompting an even more vocal push for independence, moments ago the Spanish Public Prosecutor's Office petitioned Madrid Judge Carmela Lamela, investigating charges of sedition in Barcelona on September 20, to jail Catalan Police chief Josep Lluis Trapero on remand, court reporters for Spanish media tweeted.
Josep Lluis Trapero , Catalan police chief
According to Bloomberg, Jordi Sanchez, head of the pro-independence campaign group the Catalan National Assembly, and Jordi Cuixart, who leads the Catalan cultural lobby group Omnium, are also to be interrogated by magistrates.
The judge is expected to make a decision at 6 p.m. on Monday.
According to the Spain Report, Major Trapero first appeared at the National High Court as part of the investigation on October 6, but was allowed to return to Barcelona and remain in his post after the hearing.
The current Spanish criminal code describes the crime of sedition as unlawfully preventing officers of the law from properly enforcing it or otherwise executing their duties. Organisers of sedition in positions of authority may be jailed for up to 15 years.