CATALONIA’S former police chief Josep Lluís Trapero, who was widely praised for his handling of last year’s Barcelona terror attacks, and other security officials, have been charged with sedition for their role in October’s referendum.

The news came yesterday as a German court ruled out ‘‘rebellion’’ as grounds for the extradition to Spain of former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont.

Spanish National Court Judge Carmen Lamela said in an indictment that Trapero, who was chief of the Mossos d’Esquadra, was part of an organised plan to seek Catalan independence, which the courts have ruled is against the constitution.

They have repeatedly been used to block any moves towards independence with supporters charged and former government ministers jailed for months without trial.

Trapero was hailed as a local hero in Catalonia for the Mossos’ handling of the extremist attacks last summer. But he then came under severe pressure when Spanish national authorities asked his regional police force to help prevent the October 1 referendum.

The Mossos adopted a “softly-softly” approach towards people who turned out to vote, while the world watched in horror as Spain’s National Police and Civil Guard officers randomly beat up young and elderly would-be voters with riot batons.

Trapero quit the force in October after being demoted when the Spanish Government imposed direct rule on Catalonia. Two other members of the Mossos and an official from the regional interior department were also indicted yesterday.

Lamela accused Trapero of belonging to “a complex and heterogeneous organisation” whose aim was to achieve “the secession of the autonomous community of Catalonia, clearly contravening the constitutional order”.

She said the Mossos were illegally put at the service of the government’s roadmap to independence by allowing the “illegal referendum” to go ahead and spying on Spanish police officers.

In a separate political development, former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont was released on bail by a German court yesterday.

The court has been considering a Spanish extradition request for Puigdemont for more than a week.

Spain has accused the former Catalan president of rebellion.

The court concluded that the closest equivalent to this in German law was high treason but it ruled that in Puigdemont’s case there was no element of violence, so the charge was inadmissible. The Schleswig-Holstein court said he could still face corruption charges in Spain, and it has suspended rather than ruled out extradition.

Puigdemont sent an open letter from prison urging Catalonia’s parliament to make another bid to elect jailed independence activist and cultural figure Jordi Sanchez as president.

Puigdemont also proposed Sanchez – his deputy in the Together for Catalonia (JxCat) party – last month, but Spain’s Supreme Court refused to free him to attend a parliamentary session.

Scottish lawyer Aamer Anwar, meanwhile, who is leading the defence for deposed Catalan education minister and St Andrews academic Clara Ponsatí, has said his client has not “committed any criminal offence” in connection with the referendum.

She has been bailed at Edinburgh Sheriff Court after turning herself in to police to answer a European Arrest Warrant issued by Spain.

Anwar – current rector of Glasgow University – told the Catalan News Agency they did not believe Ponsati would be treated fairly in Spain.

“We believe this is a deliberate attempt by Spanish authorities to criminalise a desire for independence,” he said.

“What Clara states is that she peacefully promoted the referendum, she’s never committed any criminal offence, and the argument that the Spanish authorities are advancing is that they are holding her responsible for the violence that took place on the day of the referendum.

“But for many people in this country, and across Europe, who watched TV on October 1, the only violence they saw was the violence of the Spanish police and the state security forces.”