By JILL LAWLESS (Associated Press)
LONDON (AP) — Former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who dominated politics in Scotland for nearly a decade, was arrested and questioned for a number of hours on Sunday by police investigating the funds of the governing, pro-independence Scottish National Party.
Police Scotland mentioned a 52-year-old girl was detained Sunday morning “as a suspect in connection with the ongoing investigation into the funding and finances of the Scottish National Party.”
She was “released without charge pending further investigation” about six hours later, the power mentioned. British police don’t establish suspects till they’re charged.
A spokesperson for Sturgeon mentioned the previous first minister voluntarily attended an interview with police and would cooperate with the power’s investigation.
The SNP mentioned the social gathering had been “cooperating fully with this investigation and will continue to do so. However it is not appropriate to publicly address any issues while that investigation is ongoing.”
Scottish police opened an investigation in 2021 into how greater than 600,000 kilos ($754,000) designated for a Scottish independence marketing campaign was spent.
Two former SNP officers, Colin Beattie, who was treasurer, and Peter Murrell, who was chief govt, have been beforehand arrested and questioned as a part of the investigation. Like Sturgeon, each have been launched pending additional inquiries.
Murrell is Sturgeon’s husband, and police searched the couple’s house in Glasgow after his arrest in April.
Sturgeon unexpectedly resigned in February after eight years as Scottish National Party chief and first minister of Scotland’s semi-autonomous authorities. She mentioned then that she knew “in my head and in my heart” that it was the precise time for her, her social gathering and her nation to make approach for another person.
The first feminine chief of Scotland’s devolved authorities, Sturgeon led her social gathering to dominance in Scottish politics and refashioned the SNP from a largely one-issue social gathering right into a dominant governing power with liberal social positions.
She guided her social gathering throughout three U.Okay.-wide elections and two Scottish elections, and led Scotland by the coronavirus pandemic, profitable reward for her clear, measured communication fashion.
But Sturgeon left workplace amid divisions within the SNP and along with her major purpose — independence from the U.Okay. for the nation of 5.5 million individuals — unmet.
Scottish voters backed remaining within the U.Okay. in a 2014 referendum that was billed as a once-in-a-generation determination. The social gathering needs a brand new vote, however the U.Okay. Supreme Court has dominated that Scotland can’t maintain one with out London’s consent. The central authorities has refused to authorize one other referendum.
Sturgeon’s departure unleashed a tussle for the way forward for the SNP amid recriminations over the social gathering’s declining membership and divisions over one of the best path in the direction of independence. Opinion polls recommend help for the social gathering has sagged, although it stays the preferred in Scotland.
An acrimonious management contest to interchange her noticed contenders feud over techniques and Sturgeon’s legacy, notably a invoice she launched to make it simpler for individuals to legally change gender. It was hailed as a landmark piece of laws by transgender rights activists, however confronted opposition from some SNP members who mentioned it ignored the necessity to defend single-sex areas for ladies
First Minister Humza Yousaf, who received the social gathering contest in March, advised the BBC earlier than Sturgeon’s arrest that the SNP had been by “some of the most difficult weeks our party has probably faced, certainly in the modern era.”
“I know there will be people, be it our opposition, be it the media, that have somehow written the SNP off already,” he mentioned. “They do that at their own peril.”
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