Scotland's Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon Arrested In SNP Funding Probe: Report

Sturgeon's arrest followed that of her husband, the party's former chief executive, and its former treasurer.

Scotland's former first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, was arrested on Sunday by police who were looking into the finances of the Scottish National Party, which she headed until her abrupt resignation in February and which controls the country's politics, New York Times (NYT) reported.

Following the previous arrests of Sturgeon's husband, Peter Murrell, the party's former chief executive, and later of Colin Beattie, its former treasurer, the S.N.P., which advocates for Scottish independence, is now even more in danger.

After interrogation, both individuals were freed without being prosecuted, but the most recent event represents a precipitous decline for Sturgeon, a well-liked politician who presided as Scotland's first minister for more than eight years before announcing her departure, NYT reported.

That choice shocked the political establishment and sparked a contentious contest to succeed her, which Humza Yousaf, a former health secretary for Scotland, finally won.

However, the unprecedented drama following the recent intensification of the police inquiry into the S.N.P.'s finances has overshadowed Yousaf's ambitions to become Scotland's new first minister.

Sturgeon was not specifically mentioned in a statement from Scotland Police, which stated that "a 52-year-old woman" had on Sunday "been arrested as a suspect in connection with the continuing investigation into the funding and finances of the Scottish National Party," adding that she was "in custody and is being questioned" by detectives. This followed standard British protocol. The detained woman was named as Sturgeon by the BBC and other British news organisations.

The investigation by Scotland Police, code-named Operation Branchform, reportedly started in 2021 in response to concerns about the handling of over 600,000 pounds, or almost $750,000, in donations made to support the campaign for a second referendum on Scottish independence, NYT reported.

Sturgeon cited exhaustion and the fact that she had grown too divisive in Scottish politics to persuade hesitant Scots to back independence as reasons for her departure.

However, when BBC questioned in April if the police investigation of Murrell had led to Sturgeon's departure, Yousaf responded: "No, I believe Nicola Sturgeon absolutely that she had taken the party as further forward as she possibly could."