Sturgeon's Lawyer Defends 2023 'No Comment' Interview After Murrell Admits £400,000 SNP Embezzlement
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · May 27
Sturgeon's Lawyer Defends 2023 'No Comment' Interview After Murrell Admits £400,000 SNP Embezzlement
10 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 27
Aamer Anwar said Nicola Sturgeon's decision to answer "no comment" during her seven-hour June 2023 police interview was standard legal advice, not obstruction, after fresh criticism following Peter Murrell's guilty plea.
Anwar said Sturgeon later submitted a detailed written response to Police Scotland and maintained she had no knowledge that SNP funds were used to buy personal items, including gifts for her.
Murrell, the former SNP chief executive and Sturgeon's estranged husband, admitted on Monday to embezzling more than £400,000 over 12 years and was remanded ahead of sentencing next month.
Russell Findlay, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, said Sturgeon's silence conflicted with her earlier pledge to fully cooperate, while Anwar called that comparison to organized crime "deeply worrying."
Police told Sturgeon and former treasurer Colin Beattie in March 2025 that they were no longer under investigation, leaving Murrell as the central figure in Operation Branchform.
Will Nicola Sturgeon be forced to surrender gifts bought with money her husband embezzled?
Why is the evidence that cleared Scotland's former leader being kept secret from the public?
After a decade of fraud at the top, can Scotland’s ruling party ever regain public trust?