Catalonia's former vice president kept in jail by Spanish judge as Puigdemont faces extradition deadline
Oriol Junqueras among top ousted separatists facing charges of sedition
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Your support makes all the difference.Catalonia's removed Vice President has been refused bail following a hearing by a Spanish judge.
Oriol Junqueras was ordered to be kept in jail following charges of sedition, but six other former Catalan ministers were freed on bail by the court.
Along with Mr Junqueras, deposed Catalan interior minister Joaquim Forn and the leads of two civic groups ANC and Omnium Cultural, were also kept in prison.
Spanish authorities levels charges of rebellion, sedition, and the misuse of public funds against ministers of the Catalan government after they called an independence referendum on 1 October.
The referendum was declared illegal by Spain's constitutional court in Madrid and national police used force to try and stop it, including the confiscation of ballot boxes and documented physical attacks on people going to vote and protesting. The Madrid central government then removed Catalonia's regional autonomy, imposed direct rule, and called new elections.
Mr Junqueras will now have to campaign ahead of those elections, called for 21 December, from a jail near Madrid.
The judge set €100,000 bail for the six other Catalan politicians who had been jailed in early November, and ordered their passports to be confiscated.
The six were expected to leave jails near Madrid later in the day.
Meanwhile, Catalan ex-president Carles Puigdemont and four of his separatist allies heard that they will be judged on whether they can be extradited from Belgium to Spain on 14 December, exactly one week before the election.
The group is refusing to return to Spain to face rebellion, sedition and embezzlement charges that can be punished with decades in prison under the country's criminal laws.
Mr Puigdemont's defence lawyer, Paul Bekaert, insisted that the Spanish charges were not punishable in Belgium and thus there were no grounds for extradition.
"We also highlighted the danger for the impediment of their human rights in Spain," he said.
Whatever decision is made on 14 December, two appeals will be possible and a final ruling will likely come after the election called by Spain's central authorities, in which Mr Puigdemont is leading his pro-independence party's campaign.
Additional reporting by agencies
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