Catalan separatists accused by judge of belonging to new terrorist group

Seven of the nine Catalan separatists arrested on Monday on suspicion of planning acts of violence have been placed in pre-trial custody without bail. Judge Manuel García-Castellón, of Spain’s High Court, the Audiencia Nacional, made the decision on Thursday, arguing that the individuals belonged to a violent faction of the Committees to Defend the Republic (CDR), a network of grassroots activists who have made headlines in recent years through public acts of protest in support of the Catalan independence movement, El Pais reports.

In his writ, García-Castellón described this faction, dubbed the Technical Response Team (ERT), as an “organization with a hierarchical structure, that aims to instate a Catalan republic via any means, even violent ones,” according to judicial sources. “The ERT is an organization with sufficient capacity to carry out tactics and operations with a high level of professionalism,” the court statement read.

via El Pais