Former Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon was arrested on Sunday in a police investigation into fraudulent party funding. The Scottish National Party (SNP) is said to have squandered £600,000 in donations.
Sturgeon, 52, is the third person arrested in the investigation, the British newspaper reports The Guardian. Earlier, the SNP treasurer and Sturgeon’s husband were arrested and questioned. The police suspect them of having tampered with the party treasury for years.
The SNP is said to have received 600,000 pounds (about 700,000 euros) in donations. That money was collected for the organization of a second independence referendum, but would not have been spent on that goal.
Sturgeon is questioned by the police. Her husband Peter Murrell was arrested on April 5 at their home in Uddingston, near Glasgow. He was interrogated for nearly twelve hours in the same case, after which he was released without charge.
The police have searched the house and garden of the former prime minister. Boxes, documents and computers were seized at the SNP headquarters.
Party treasurer Colin Beattie was arrested and questioned on April 18 as part of the same investigation. He, like Sturgeon’s husband, was later released without charge. The treasurer was still under investigation.
Resign ‘because it’s time’
Sturgeon announced in February this year that he would step down as head of government. She gave no specific reason for this, but said “knowing in her mind and heart that it’s time”. After six weeks she was succeeded by Humza Yousaf. Sturgeon served as Prime Minister of Scotland from 2014 to 2023.
Since Brexit, Scottish independence from the United Kingdom has been Sturgeon’s top priority. In a 2014 referendum, a slim majority of Scots voted against independence. In 2021, the SNP under Sturgeon won a major election victory. Because the British government will not allow another independence referendum, it wanted to turn the next election into a referendum in disguise.
2023-06-11 14:05:40
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