The former Prime Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, has been arrested as part of an investigation into the finances of her founding party, the Scottish National Party (SNP), the British press announced on Sunday.
The finances of the SNP have been the subject of suspicion in recent years, especially due to complaints filed in 2021 about donations.
In particular, questions arose about the funds the party received for a possible new pro-independence referendum campaign.
Sturgeon, who at no time attributed his resignation at the end of March – after nine years in office – to these suspicions, has always defended the transparency of the accounts and the funds raised for the hypothetical consultation – about 667 thousand pounds (about 761 thousand euros against the current exchange rate) between 2017 and 2020 alone.
The announcement of the arrest was published by the Scottish National Police on the social network Twitter, in relation to a 52-year-old woman, referring to Sturgeon, whose identity was verified by BBC Scotland.
Update on Scottish National Party funding and finance research.
More: https://t.co/0zR05TnK4o pic.twitter.com/WNA9OTJX3Q
– Police Scotland (@PoliceScotland) June 11, 2023
The detainee is currently in custody and is being questioned by police detectives, authorities added in their statement.
British police do not identify suspects until they have been charged. The BBC and other media identified the arrested woman as Sturgeon.
Several senior SNP figures were previously detained and questioned as part of the investigation, but no one was charged.
Sturgeon’s husband, Peter Murrell, was arrested on April 5 and later released in connection with the investigation. On April 18, party treasurer Colin Beattie was arrested. He too was released without charge.
Source: DN
