London, 11 June 2023 (dpa/MIA) - Scotland's former first minister Nicola Sturgeon has been arrested as part of an investigation into her party's finances, police officials say.

Police Scotland said on Sunday that the former Scottish National Party (SNP) leader - who resigned as Scotland's first minister earlier in 2023 after eight years in the top office - is in custody and being questioned by detectives.

"A 52-year-old woman has today, Sunday, June 11, been arrested
as a suspect in connection with the ongoing investigation into the funding and finances of the Scottish National Party," police said.

Scotland's most popular party, which has been at the heart of an independence movement seeking to take Scotland out of the United Kingdom, became the subject of an investigation into party finances – dubbed Operation Branchform – in 2021.

The former first minister's arrest comes after her husband Peter Murrell was arrested in April. Murrell and Scottish lawmaker Colin Beattie, who was SNP treasurer at the time, were both released without charge pending further inquiry.

As well as the arrests, searches were carried out at a number of properties, including Murrell and Sturgeon's home - where a police tent was erected in the garden - and at SNP headquarters in Edinburgh.

Sturgeon had previously been quizzed on the origin of finances used by her husband to loan the SNP more than £100,000 ($125,000) to assist with cashflow.

In March, Humza Yousaf became Scotland’s youngest first minister and the first person from a minority ethnic background to hold the post after he was elected Sturgeon's successor.

Photo: MIA archive