Spanish authorities on Monday had the leaders of two of Catalonia’s largest separatist organisations arrested for alleged sedition, as the government moves closer to imposing central rule over the autonomous region, Reuters reported.

Madrid’s High Court said Jordi Sànchez, the head of the Catalan National Assembly, and Jordi Cuixart, from the independence group Omnium, should be jailed without bail till their roles in organising demonstrations on September 20 and September 21 are investigated, AP reported. They will be investigated for alleged sedition.

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The prosecutors said Sànchez and Cuixart played central roles in orchestrating pro-independence protests that trapped national police inside a Barcelona building last month and destroyed their vehicles.

Soon after the arrests, 200 people gathered at the Catalan government’s headquarters in Barcelona to show support, the Reuters report said. They chanted “freedom” and waved “democracy” banners. The Catalan National Assembly called for peaceful demonstrations on Tuesday.

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

The ruling came just 12 hours after President of the Government of Catalonia Carles Puigdemont failed to clarify, before a deadline, whether he had declared independence from Spain. He now has till Thursday to withdraw the declaration of independence.

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“Spain jails Catalonia’s civil society leaders for organising peaceful demonstrations,” Puigdemont said on Twitter on Tuesday, adding that the country has “political prisoners again”, a reference to Spain’s military dictatorship under Francisco Franco.

Spain will strip the region of its autonomy and impose direct rule if Catalonia does not cancel its independence declaration.