appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

liveArticle

appConfig

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sectionsV2

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

json

Agence France-Presse

Scotland’s former leader Nicola Sturgeon insisted that she had done nothing wrong after police arrested her as part of an investigation into the finances of the country’s ruling party.
Detectives quizzed the former leader for around seven hours as part of the “Operation Branchform” investigation into the finances of the Scottish National Party (SNP), Scotland’s dominant political force.
She was later released pending further investigation, Police Scotland said on Sunday.
“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,” Sturgeon wrote in a statement issued on Twitter after her release.

STATEMENT pic.twitter.com/MlpWJGzwi0
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) June 11, 2023

“I would never do anything to harm either the SNP or the country,” she added.
Given the ongoing investigation, there was a limit to what she could say, she said.
But she insisted: “Innocence is not just a presumption I am entitled to in law. I know beyond doubt that I am in fact innocent of any wrongdoing.”
A statement earlier Sunday from Police Scotland said: “A 52-year-old woman who was arrested earlier today as a suspect in connection with the ongoing investigation into the funding and finances of the Scottish National Party, has been released without charge”.
Her arrest is the third in the probe that has sent shock waves through Scotland’s politics.
Husband of Scotland’s ex-leader Nicola Sturgeon arrested
The brewing scandal has plunged the SNP into deep crisis and damaged its dream for an independent Scotland.
Labour’s shadow Scottish secretary Ian Murray reacted to the latest news by saying: “For too long, a culture of secrecy and cover-up has been allowed to fester at the heart of the SNP”.
Meanwhile, Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “It’s fair to say that today’s events will have huge ramifications both for the SNP and the future of Scottish politics”.

Sturgeon’s husband Peter Murrell, the former chief executive of the SNP, was arrested in April as part of the probe.
At the time, police raided the Glasgow home shared by the couple, erecting a crime-scene tent in the front garden, and SNP headquarters in Edinburgh.
Murrell has long faced questions over the alleged diversion of £600,000 (US$750,000) in SNP donations that were meant to support its drive for Scottish independence.
He also failed to declare a personal loan to the party of more than £100,000.
Party treasurer Colin Beattie was also arrested in April.
Sturgeon made her final appearance as First Minister in the Scottish Parliament in March.
After more than eight years at the helm, Sturgeon said in February that she lacked the “energy” to carry on and was stepping down.
But the police investigation into Murrell, whom she married in 2010, had been a cloud over her head.

Murrell resigned from his SNP leadership post in March after the party falsely denied to media that it had lost 30,000 members.
The disclosure came as the SNP held a bitter election to replace Sturgeon as party leader and Scotland’s first minister, eventually won by Humza Yousaf.
Yousaf denied that Sturgeon had quit knowing the police investigation was about to come perilously close to home.
Humza Yousaf wins Scottish leadership race
“Nicola’s legacy stands on its own,” he said.
Following Murrell’s arrest, Yousaf said “clearly it’s not great, and I think the sooner we can get to a conclusion in this police investigation, the better.
“I’ve never been an office bearer in the party, I’ve not had a role in the party finances,” he added.
Recent surveys show only around 45 per cent of Scots back their nation leaving the UK – the same minority recorded in a 2014 referendum, which London insists settled the matter for a generation.


Chinese J-35 stealth jets set to give Pakistan edge over India in fifth-generation tech

4 luxury pyjama sets for cosy nights in, from Ralph Lauren to LoveShackFancy

China’s snooker world champions cue up a bright future for the sport

Zelensky warns Russia’s allies against attending WWII parade as Moscow repeats threats

Britain

Scotland’s ex-leader Nicola Sturgeon claims innocence after arrest

Former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon. File photo: EPA-EFE

The home of Peter Murrell, Sturgeon’s husband and former chief executive of the Scottish National Party (SNP). Photo: AFP

Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf. File photo: Reuters

Scotland’s Sturgeon: confident independence vote can happen next year

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on the BBC on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth meets Scottish leader Sturgeon amid new independence vote push

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth (left) receives First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon during an audience at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh on Wednesday. Photo: AP

Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon (right) presenting Queen Elizabeth with a bottle of top-end Johnnie Walker Blue Label whisky. Photo: AFP

Husband of Scotland’s ex-leader Nicola Sturgeon arrested in funding probe

Scotland’s former First Minister and leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), Nicola Sturgeon, and her husband husband Peter Murrell, pictured in 2019. Photo: AFP

Scotland’s former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, alongside her successor Humza Yousaf. Photo: Reuters

Scotland takes fight for independence vote to UK’s top court

Eight years ago, Scotland voted to stay in the United Kingdom, and current polls suggest Scots remain evenly divided on the question of independence. File photo: EPA-EFE


Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. Photo: Reuters

United Britain ‘on borrowed time’, Scottish leader says on anniversary of independence referendum

Scotland's First Minister and Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon gestures as she delivers a speech in Edinburgh on Friday. Photo: Reuters

British Prime Minister David Cameron said the referendum was a "once in a lifetime event". Photo: EPA

The referendum on independence for Scotland drew huge rallies in the lead-up to the vote. Photo: Reuters

News

World

Europe

Former Scottish first minister was briefly arrested as part of an investigation into the Scottish National Party’s finances
Sturgeon said on Twitter she knows ‘beyond doubt that I am in fact innocent of any wrongdoing’


Scotland’s former leader Nicola Sturgeon insisted she had done nothing wrong after police questioned her as part of an investigation into the finances of the country’s ruling party.
