Nepal’s royal government today charged a prominent student leader with sedition for leading street protests against King Gyanendra.

Nepalese police raided a hide-out and arrested a democracy activist on their most-wanted list and two other student leaders who had eluded capture since the king’s crackdown on dissidents in February, officials said today.

Student leaders today denounced King Gyanendra’s seizure of power, called for the restoration of democracy and urged their colleagues to join banned street protests despite a strict government crackdown.