Sturgeon arrested, released over party’s funds probe – Times of India
LONDON: Former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon was arrested and held for more than seven hours on Sunday after voluntarily attending an interview over a police probe into the fate of funds for her pro-independence Scottish National Party. The police investigation is looking at what happened to more than 600,000 pounds ($754,140) in funding which was raised by Scottish independence campaigners in 2017 and was supposed to have been ring-fenced, but may have been used for other purposes.
The arrest is deeply embarrassing for the SNP, which has dominated Scottish politics for most of the last two decades. Sturgeon stood down earlier this year and support for the party has since dropped.
“To find myself in the situation I did today when I am certain I have committed no offence is both a shock and deeply distressing,” she said in a statement on Twitter. “I know beyond doubt that I am in fact innocent of any wrongdoing.”
A spokesperson for Sturgeon earlier said, “Nicola Sturgeon has today, Sunday 11th June, by arrangement with Police Scotland, attended an interview where she was to be arrested and questioned.” Police Scotland said a 52-year-old woman had been arrested at 10.09am a suspect in connection with its investigation into the funding and finances of the SNP. She was released from custody at 5.24 pm. “A 52-year-old woman who was arrested earlier today … has been released without charge pending further investigation,” police. The SNP said it had been cooperating with the investigation.
In April, Sturgeon’s husband Peter Murrell and the party’s then treasurer Colin Beattie were both arrested and then released without charge pending further investigation as part of the same probe. Sturgeon, Murrell and Beattie were all signatories on the SNP’s accounts. At the time of Murrell’s arrest, police carried out a search of the couple’s home in Glasgow. Sturgeon, the longest serving leader of Scotland’s semi-autonomous government, caught the political world by surprise when she announced her resignation in February, saying she had become too divisive to lead her country to independence. reuters
The arrest is deeply embarrassing for the SNP, which has dominated Scottish politics for most of the last two decades. Sturgeon stood down earlier this year and support for the party has since dropped.
“To find myself in the situation I did today when I am certain I have committed no offence is both a shock and deeply distressing,” she said in a statement on Twitter. “I know beyond doubt that I am in fact innocent of any wrongdoing.”
A spokesperson for Sturgeon earlier said, “Nicola Sturgeon has today, Sunday 11th June, by arrangement with Police Scotland, attended an interview where she was to be arrested and questioned.” Police Scotland said a 52-year-old woman had been arrested at 10.09am a suspect in connection with its investigation into the funding and finances of the SNP. She was released from custody at 5.24 pm. “A 52-year-old woman who was arrested earlier today … has been released without charge pending further investigation,” police. The SNP said it had been cooperating with the investigation.
In April, Sturgeon’s husband Peter Murrell and the party’s then treasurer Colin Beattie were both arrested and then released without charge pending further investigation as part of the same probe. Sturgeon, Murrell and Beattie were all signatories on the SNP’s accounts. At the time of Murrell’s arrest, police carried out a search of the couple’s home in Glasgow. Sturgeon, the longest serving leader of Scotland’s semi-autonomous government, caught the political world by surprise when she announced her resignation in February, saying she had become too divisive to lead her country to independence. reuters
