- Former Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon has been released shortly after her arrest.
- No formal allegations have been made against them, Scottish police said on Sunday evening.
- The investigations continued, it said.
The 52-year-old had been arrested around seven hours earlier as a suspect in the course of investigations into financial inconsistencies in her party, British media reported.
The investigation is about a party donation affair. Scottish police said in the afternoon that a 52-year-old woman had been arrested “as a suspect in connection with ongoing investigations into the funding and finances of the Scottish National Party”. British police are not naming suspects before charging them.
A spokesman for Sturgeon told the BBC the former Prime Minister had volunteered for questioning by the police and would be cooperating with the investigation.
Husband already arrested
The investigations, which have been ongoing since 2021, involve more than 600,000 pounds (around 680,000 francs) that were earmarked for the SNP’s independence campaign in 2017. The money could have been spent for other purposes, however.
Several leading SNP politicians have already been arrested and questioned as part of the investigation. Nobody was charged. Her husband Peter Murrell and then SNP Treasurer Colin Beattie were arrested in April. Both were later released without any charges being brought against them.
Sturgeon surprisingly resigned in February
Sturgeon surprisingly resigned as Prime Minister of Scotland in February after more than eight years. She said at the time it was the right time for her, her party and her country to make way for someone else.
Since the end of March, Sturgeon’s 38-year-old confidant Humza Yousaf has been the new leader of the party and government.