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Ousted Catalan VP denied bail; poll shows separatists may fall short in election

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Ousted Catalan VP denied bail; poll shows separatists may fall short in election

A Spanish Supreme Court judge denied bail to Catalonia's deposed vice president, Oriol Junqueras, and its former interior minister, Joaquim Forn, ahead of a regional election to be held on Dec. 21, The Guardian reported.

Junqueras and several other Catalan leaders are facing potential charges of sedition, rebellion and misuse of public funds for their involvement in Catalonia's illegal independence referendum and the unilateral declaration of independence in October.

Judge Pablo Llarena said there was a risk that Junqueras and Forn could commit the same crimes if released from detention. The magistrate also ruled that leaders of two pro-independence civil society groups must remain in custody, but granted bail to six former Catalan cabinet members.

Meanwhile, a Belgian court said a decision on a possible European arrest warrant against ousted Catalan president Carles Puigdemont and four of his cabinet ministers, who had fled to Brussels, will be made on Dec. 14, according to The Guardian.

Madrid has been directly controlling Catalonia after Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy dissolved the Catalan government and called for a regional election. A new poll by the Sociological Research Centre, a Spanish public research institute, showed that Catalan pro-independence parties may lose the majority in the regional parliament.

According to the survey, Puigdemont's Together for Catalonia party is on track to win 25 to 26 seats, while Junqueras' Catalan Republican Left party could win 32 seats. The far-left Popular Unity Candidacy party is projected to get nine seats.

The parties would have a combined total of 67 seats, one short of a majority and five less than the number of seats they previously held together.