Global Courant
Nicola Sturgeon was held for about 7 hours, Scotland police said.
LONDON — Former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she was “innocent of any wrongdoing” after being questioned for hours in police custody on Sunday.
Sturgeon, a staunch pro-independence supporter who resigned earlier this year, was questioned for several hours on Sunday in connection with an ongoing investigation into her party’s finances, Scotland police said.
Police officers drive past the home of Peter Murrell, former CEO of the Scottish National Party, and his wife, the former First Minister of Scotland and former leader of the SNP, Nicola Sturgeon, on June 11, 2023 in Glasgow.
Andy Buchanan/AFP via Getty Images
“The woman is in custody and is being questioned by detectives from the Police of Scotland,” police said a statement, who did not name the former prime minister. Sturgeon later identified herself as the person in custody, saying in a statement that she was “in this situation.”
Sturgeon was released about 7 hours later “without charge pending further investigation,” police officials said a follow-up statement.
The First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party, Nicola Sturgeon, reacts as she delivers her speech to delegates at the annual SNP conference in Aberdeen, Scotland, on Oct. 10, 2022.
Andy Buchanan/AFP via Getty Images
The former First Minister was the latest official questioned in the ongoing inquiry into the funding and finances of the Scottish National Party.
Two other former or current SNP officials have been arrested, including Sturgeon’s husband, Peter Murrell, who served as the party’s president from 2000 to 2023. Murrell had been arrested in April, police said at the time. Colin Beattie, the party’s ex-treasurer, was also arrested, PA Media reported.
Sturgeon, who is currently Minister for Glasgow Southside, saidSunday that it was a “shock” to find herself “in this situation” when she was “confident that I have committed no offence”.
“I know beyond any doubt that I am, in fact, innocent of any wrongdoing,” she wrote in a statement.
