Spain’s High Court [official website] announced on Wednesday that Calalonia’s police and organizers are under investigation for sedition, most notably Catalonia’s regional police, Josep Lluis Trapero. Trapero is being called to testify [Reuters report] in relation to arrests of high-ranking officials over the organization of a banned independence vote.

The accusations refer to the unrest that broke out after police raided Catalan government offices and arrested officials September 20 to halt a banned October 1 independence referendum [JURIST report]. That police action was met with protests, and the Catalan regional police are accused of failing to intervene. Tensions between Spain and the north-eastern Catalonia region continue to increase, days after the referendum.

The vote, which drew a turnout of 42.3 percent of registered voters, was in favor of Independence by a margin of 90 percent to 10. In his first interview since the October 1 referendum, Carles Puigdemo of the Catalonia government, told BBC that they will declare independence 48 hours after the final votes have been counted.