Former Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon cleared in embezzlement probe that saw her ex-husband charged

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LONDON (AFP) – Police said on Thursday that Nicolas Storegion, former Scotland leader, was cleared of violations of the financial affairs of the ruling Scottish National Party, “Police said on Thursday. She accused her former husband, former CEO of the party, of embezzlement.

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Police in Scotland said that Storgion and former party secretary Colin Betty are no longer under investigation as part of an investigation of how more than 600,000 pounds (780,000 dollars) have been spent on a Scottish independence campaign.

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Both were arrested and interrogated almost two years ago, and they were released on bail since then.

Former party leader Peter Morel was represented in the Edinburgh court on Thursday, and he was accused of the party's money, after being accused in April 2024. Morel, 60, did not enter a call and was released on bail while the legal process continued.

Morel and Sorgion married in 2010, and they announced in January that they were divorcing.

Surgion, 54, took control of the Scottish policy nearly a decade before it was unexpectedly resigned in 2023 after eight years as the first minister of the ID of STC.

Storgion led its party to the domination of Scottish politics and prepared SNP from one party to a large extent to a dominant ruling force with liberal social positions. During three elections at the level of the United Kingdom and Scottish elections, she led her party, and led Scotland through the Korona virus pandemic, and won the praise of clear and scale.

But Storgion left his position in SNP sections without achieving its main goal – independence from the United Kingdom of a nation of 5.5 million people.

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Since then, the party has witnessed a decrease in its membership and its decline in popularity. It still controls the Scotland government, but it has lost most of its seats in the British Parliament in the UK elections in July, where they moved from 48 legitimate to nine.

It is unusual that a former leader or leader of a political party in the United Kingdom will be arrested, and Storgion's arrest shocked the country. Also, the last case, SNP commander – Storgion's predecessor as Prime Minister Alex Salmond, was arrested in 2019 and was charged with a series of sexual crimes, including attempt to rape.

Salmond was acquitted on all 13 charges after a trial in January 2020 and later died of that year, in October, 69 years old.

In 1979, the leader of the former liberal party, Jeremy Thorpe, was accused of conspiracy and incitement to kill the former model Norman Scott. Scott claimed that they had sexual relationship in the early 1960s, when homosexuality was illegal.

Years later, in 1975, Scott and his dog were attacked by a long swamp, and the great bullets were shot. Thorp denied his involvement and was acquitted. He died in 2014.

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