Financial investigations against SNP
Scotland’s ex-Prime Minister Sturgeon arrested
6/11/2023, 4:04 p.m
In April of this year, her husband, Peter Murrell, was temporarily arrested. Former Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon has also been arrested. The investigation is about a possible misappropriation of donations for your party.
Former Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon has been arrested as part of an investigation into financial inconsistencies within her party. The 52-year-old is in custody and is being questioned by investigators, Scottish police said. She is considered a suspect in connection with the ongoing investigation into the finances of the Scottish governing party SNP.
The longtime head of government and leader of the SNP had campaigned vehemently for Scottish independence. In February, after more than eight years at the head of government in Edinburgh, she surprisingly announced her resignation – according to her own statements, because she lacked the “energy” to continue. But the investigation into her husband Peter Murrell also hovered over her like a dark cloud.
Then in April, Sturgeon’s husband, former SNP general secretary Murrell, was arrested on a stint in connection with the SNP’s financial investigation. Police searched the home of Sturgeon and Murrell in Glasgow and the SNP headquarters in Edinburgh.
In the past, among other things, the alleged diversion of around 600,000 pounds (about 700,000 euros) in donations raised questions about Murrell. He had also failed to declare a personal loan to the party of around £100,000 (about €116,000) – which could be in breach of party funding transparency laws.
Murrell’s arrest had plunged the SNP deeper into crisis. The polarizing election campaign to succeed Sturgeon had already revealed fault lines in the question of the party’s future. Since the end of March, Sturgeon’s 38-year-old confidant Humza Yousaf has been the new leader of the party and government. The SNP’s demand for a new referendum on Scottish independence had been rejected by the British government in London and the Supreme Court.