Sturgeon remains defiant as she returns to Holyrood

Nicola Sturgeon remained defiant at her first press conference since being arrested and released without charge as part of the investigation into the SNP’s finances, reiterating she is “absolutely certain” she did nothing wrong.

Speaking from Holyrood, the former first minister said she was not able to speak for her husband, Peter Murrell, who had served as the SNP’s chief executive before he too was arrested and released without charge.

While Ms Sturgeon did speak briefly on Sunday after returning home, Tuesday saw her first major press engagement with the media since being arrested on Sunday 11 June.

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“It’s not been the best period in my life,” she told waiting reporters.

“It’s not an easy period. I’m not saying that for sympathy… The thing that sustains me right now is the certainty that I have done nothing wrong.”

Asked whether she would stand down from the party she was leading at the beginning of the year, Ms Sturgeon said will always consider what is best for the SNP.

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She parroted a brief statement on Sunday, saying that she will “respect and fully understand the process that is under way. I am absolutely certain that I have done nothing wrong”.

Pushed on whether she thinks everybody else has done anything wrong, Ms Sturgeon said: “This is a statement of facts, so don’t read anything one or the other into this – I can only speak for myself in these matters.

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Scotland correspondent

This was among the most defiant we have ever witnessed Nicola Sturgeon.

The former first minister, who found herself arrested as a suspect by police examining SNP finances, dug her heels in when (for the second time) I asked her whether her presence in the party is doing more harm than good.

Some of Sturgeon’s outspoken colleagues have demanded she step back amid a slip in the SNP’s polling popularity.

This was yet another circus with the former leader the star of the show. She faced difficult questions from a large pack of reporters about her recent arrest.

But the most telling element was how none of the damage surrounding the police probe seems to matter to her continued membership of the SNP.

Sturgeon is adamant she has done nothing wrong, and she suggests removing the whip from herself would send out the wrong signal and create further instability.

There is no doubt this is causing continued headaches for Humza Yousaf, who faces accusations of being “weak” for failing to sideline his predecessor. He can’t escape questions about her.

Opposition politicians have branded this an ongoing psychodrama, but secretly they are revelling in the SNP’s misery.

The first minister will continue to be bogged down by the past as the police and prosecutors plot, if anything, what comes next.

“I’m here speaking for myself and, as I have done previously, expressing again my certainty that I have done nothing wrong.”

As well as Mr Murrell, then SNP treasurer Colin Beattie was detained and released without charge earlier this year.

Police are investigating what happened to £600,000 raised by the party for independence campaigning.

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