Activists and former members of Catalonia's dismissed regional government appeared before Spain's Supreme Court on Friday to request their release while they await trial in the wake of a disputed independence referendum.

The Spanish judge said he would give his ruling on Monday as to whether the eight politicians and two activists charged with sedition should be released from custody, so they can contest a regional election set for December 21, according to judicial sources.

Seven of the eight former government officials and Jordi Sanchez, former head of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), a pro-independence grassroots organization, are candidates in the upcoming polls.

Catalan leaders, who previously held a slim parliamentary majority, made a unilateral declaration of independence in defiance of Spanish law on October 27, leading to their arrest and forcing Madrid to take direct control of the region and call the election.

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