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LONDON (Reuters) – Former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon was arrested and held for more than seven hours on Sunday after she voluntarily attended an interview about a police investigation into the fate of funds from her pro-independence Scottish National Party. A police investigation is looking into what happened to fund more than £600,000 ($754,140) raised by Scottish independence campaigners in 2017 that was meant to be fenced, but may have been used for other purposes.
The arrest is deeply embarrassing for the SNP which dominates Scottish politics for most of the past two decades. Sturgeon resigned earlier this year and support for the party has declined since then.
“To find myself in the situation I’ve been in today knowing that I did nothing wrong is shocking and very sad,” she said in a statement on Twitter. “I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am, in fact, innocent of any wrongdoing.”
A Sturgeon spokesperson had earlier said, “Nicola Sturgeon today, Sunday 11th June, in coordination with Police Scotland, attended an interview where she was to be arrested and questioned.” Police Scotland said a 52-year-old woman was arrested at 10.09am and is a suspect in connection with its investigation into the SNP’s financing and financing. It was released at 5.24pm. “A 52-year-old woman arrested earlier today … has been released without charge pending investigation,” the police said. The SNP said it was cooperating with the investigation.
In April, Sturgeon’s husband Peter Morell and then-party treasurer Colin Beatty were arrested and then released without charge pending further investigation as part of the same investigation. Sturgeon, Murrell, and Beattie were all SNP signers. At the time of Muriel’s arrest, the couple’s home in Glasgow was searched by police. Sturgeon, the longest-serving leader in the semi-autonomous government of Scotland, surprised the political world when she announced her resignation in February, saying she had become too divided to lead her country to independence. Reuters
The arrest is deeply embarrassing for the SNP which dominates Scottish politics for most of the past two decades. Sturgeon resigned earlier this year and support for the party has declined since then.
“To find myself in the situation I’ve been in today knowing that I did nothing wrong is shocking and very sad,” she said in a statement on Twitter. “I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am, in fact, innocent of any wrongdoing.”
A Sturgeon spokesperson had earlier said, “Nicola Sturgeon today, Sunday 11th June, in coordination with Police Scotland, attended an interview where she was to be arrested and questioned.” Police Scotland said a 52-year-old woman was arrested at 10.09am and is a suspect in connection with its investigation into the SNP’s financing and financing. It was released at 5.24pm. “A 52-year-old woman arrested earlier today … has been released without charge pending investigation,” the police said. The SNP said it was cooperating with the investigation.
In April, Sturgeon’s husband Peter Morell and then-party treasurer Colin Beatty were arrested and then released without charge pending further investigation as part of the same investigation. Sturgeon, Murrell, and Beattie were all SNP signers. At the time of Muriel’s arrest, the couple’s home in Glasgow was searched by police. Sturgeon, the longest-serving leader in the semi-autonomous government of Scotland, surprised the political world when she announced her resignation in February, saying she had become too divided to lead her country to independence. Reuters
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