MADRID:  A Spanish Supreme Court judge will decide Monday whether or not to release 10 separatist leaders who were jailed pending a probe into their role in Catalonia's independence drive, reports AFP.

Any release on bail would mark a turn in the campaign for regional elections on December 21, particularly for separatist parties who have repeatedly accused Madrid of taking "political prisoners" and "repression" after their attempt to declare unilateral independence failed.

"State repression is the mobilising element of the independence movement right now," said Oriol Bartomeus, politics professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. "Once they no longer have political prisoners, they will have to change their campaign."

After questioning them on Friday, Judge Pablo Llarena of the Supreme Court, in charge of the case, said he wouldn't take his decision until Monday, said a judicial source who refused to be named.