Catalan political prisoners facing trial in the coming weeks are expected to be transferred from Catalan to Madrid prisons on February 1. The hearings will be held in Madrid, so the Supreme Court has ordered for them to be closer to its headquarters ahead of the event.

Some sources had stated few days ago that the transferal would occur on January 29, but on Tuesday the Spanish penitentiary authority informed that the move is expected for this Friday.

The judges said earlier this week that they expected the trial to start “around” February 5 –yet less than a week before this date the court has not shared when exactly the trial will start and how long it will last.

The seven male jailed officials will be moved to Soto del Real prison (where two of them, Jordi Cuixart and Jordi Sànchez, had already spent some months), while the two female leaders will be sent to Alcalá-Meco center, where they were incarcerated for months before being moved to Catalan jails.