Woman detained on "terrorism", "rebellion" charges over Catalan protests

MADRID, April 10 (Xinhua) -- A female member of the pro-Catalan independence movement "Committee of the Defense of the Republic" (CDR) was arrested by Civil Guards on charges of "terrorism" and "rebellion", Spain's Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido confirmed on Tuesday.

The woman was detained in the town of Viladecams, close to Barcelona and taken to appear before the High Court (Audiencia Nacional) in the Spanish capital of Madrid, for her role in organizing a series of protests, which have included road blockades and opening toll booths in the Catalan region of the north of Spain.

"There has been one woman arrested," said Zoido on Spanish TV, adding the operation was "still ongoing," and that the CDR had allegedly been responsible for at least "300" violent actions in recent months.

The arrest was also accompanied by the search of the residence of another CDR leader in the town of Esplugues de Llobregat, also close to Barcelona, but the suspect was absent at the time of the police raid.

Sources close to the investigation have told the Spanish media that the woman who has been arrested used social media sites to publish instructions for actions such as blocking roads, cutting rail links and blockading the port of Barcelona, over the Easter holidays.

Recent weeks in the Catalan region have seen protests against the jailing of more pro-independence leaders for their role in the Catalan independence referendum and failed independence declaration in October 2017 and the recent detention of former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont in Germany.

Puigdemont was detained to face an extradition hearing on charges of rebellion on misuse of public funds, although on Friday a Germany court ruled he would not be extradited to Spain on a rebellion charge. Enditem