Former Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon has been arrested as part of an investigation into financial irregularities, police said.
“A 52-year-old woman has today… been arrested as a suspect in connection with the ongoing investigation into the funding and finances of the Scottish National Party,” Police Scotland said in a statement, reports RTE.
Ms Sturgeon’s spokesperson said the former SNP chief voluntarily took part in the conversation with police.
The woman is in custody and is being questioned by investigators, police added.
Ms Sturgeon’s husband, Peter Murrell, a former chief executive of the SNP, was arrested in April as part of the investigation, reports RTE.
During this time, police searched the couple’s home in Glasgow and set up a tent at the crime scene in the yard, as well as the SNP’s headquarters in Edinburgh.
Mr Murrell has long faced questions about the alleged diversion of £600,000 (€700,000) of SNP donations intended to support Scottish independence efforts.
He also did not specify a personal loan of more than £100,000 to the party.
Party treasurer Colin Beattie was also arrested in April.
After more than eight years at the helm, Ms Sturgeon said in February she lacked the “energy” to continue and was stepping down.
But the police investigation into Mr Murrell, whom she married in 2010, has cast a shadow over her head.
Mr Murrell resigned from his leadership position at the SNP in March after the party falsely denied to the media that it had lost 30,000 members, reports RTE.
The revelation came as the SNP held a bitter election to replace Ms Sturgeon as party leader and Scotland’s first minister, which was ultimately won by Humza Yousaf.
Mr Yousaf denied that Ms Sturgeon had left, knowing that the police investigation was getting dangerously close to reality.
“Nicola’s legacy stands on its own. “I’ve never been an office bearer in the party, I’ve not had a role in the party finance,” he said, reports RTE.
The scandal plunged the SNP into a deep crisis and shattered its dream of an independent Scotland.
Recent polls show that only around 45% of Scots want their country to leave the UK – the same minority recorded in the 2014 referendum where London says the issue is settled for a generation.
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