Scotland: Police arrest former leader Nicola Sturgeon

Scotland's former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has been arrested on Sunday as part of a police probe into political funding, her team confirmed.

"Nicola Sturgeon has today, Sunday 11th June, by arrangement with Police Scotland, attended an interview where she was to be arrested and questioned in relation to Operation Branchform," a spokesperson for Sturgeon said, referring to the existing investigation into SNP party finances.

"Nicola has consistently said she would cooperate with the investigation if asked and continues to do so."

United Kingdom police do not name suspects until they have been charged, but authorities confirmed they had detained a 52-year-old woman as part of an investigation into the funding of the Scottish National Party (SNP), which Sturgeon led from 2014 until she stepped down in March this year.

"The woman is in custody and is being questioned by Police Scotland detectives," Police Scotland said in a statement.

Sturgeon: 'Certain I have committed no offense' 

Police said later on Sunday that Sturgeon had been released pending further investigation with no charges brought, similar to when her husband Peter Murrell, also the SNP's executive director, was briefly arrested in April. 

Sturgeon released a written statement soon after her release. 

"To find myself in the situation I did today when I am certain I have committed no offense is both a shock and deeply distressing," she said. "I know that this ongoing investigation is difficult for people, and I am grateful that so many continue to show faith in me and appreciate that I would never do anything to harm either the SNP or the country."

Sturgeon said that given the nature of the process she "obviously" couldn't go into detail. 

"However, I do wish to say this, and to do so in the strongest possible terms. 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," she wrote. 

She also thanked both those close to her and the many people who had sent messages of support in recent weeks, or even after Sunday's news of her arrest.

She said she would "take a day or two to process this latest development," but that she intended to be back in parliament soon. She still represents the Glasgow Southside constituency in the Scottish Parliament. 

What is the investigation about?

Police Scotland had been investigating how £600,000 (€700,000; $745,000) designated for a Scottish independence campaign had been spent.

The investigation, which began in July 2021, intensified after Sturgeon's resignation, which Sturgeon had said was the result of general fatigue rather than any current difficulties when announcing it in February. 

SNP treasurer Colin Beattie and Sturgeon's husband Murrell were arrested in April as part of the investigation.

Murrell also failed to declare a personal loan to the party of more than £100,000.

Beattie and Murrell were later released without charge, pending further investigation.

But the scandal plunged the SNP into a deep crisis and further dampened its prospects of achieving an independent Scotland.

zc/msh (Reuters, AFP, AP)