Nicola Sturgeon will not release police statement, says lawyer

The written statement Nicola Sturgeon provided to Police Scotland during its investigation into the SNP’s finances will not be made public, her lawyer has said.

Aamer Anwar, the former first minister’s lawyer, said neither the written statement nor the police interview she took part in would be released, and there is “no onus on her to now prove her innocence in the court of media opinion” as she was “exonerated through the proper process”.

Sturgeon was arrested in June 2023 as part of Operation Branchform, and provided no-comment answers during the interview. She later sent a written statement to police and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS).

The police investigation led to the conviction of Sturgeon’s former husband Peter Murrell, who was found guilty of embezzling over £400,000 while he was chief executive of the SNP, and was sentenced to five years and three months.  

In March 2025, Police confirmed Sturgeon and SNP MSP Colin Beattie, the party's former treasurer, would face no further action.

Sturgeon has repeatedly said she had no knowledge of her estranged husband’s criminality.

In May, she was asked by the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg if she would publish the written statement. Sturgeon said: “I'd take legal advice on that, because it was a document that was passed to the Crown Office and to the police, but I can't think of anything in it that I wouldn't want [published].”

However, in a statement, Anwar said: “Ms Sturgeon's detailed statement produced for Police Scotland was to assist them with their inquiries; not for those who think they could now do a better job than the robust 'gold-plated' financial crime investigation.

“Ms Sturgeon is innocent, as evidenced by the fact that she was not charged, prosecuted nor convicted of any crime.

“Having been exonerated through the proper process, there is no onus on her to now prove her innocence in the court of media opinion.

“Neither Ms Sturgeon's written statement or her police interview will be released.”

Reacting to the statement, Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “It was barely a month ago that Nicola Sturgeon said on national TV there was nothing in her statement that she would not want to be published.

“Yet now, her lawyer has insisted that neither her written statement nor her police interview will be released.

“The question is – why not? If Nicola Sturgeon has nothing to hide, then why is she so opposed to her statement being published?

“From her no-comment interview with police to her dubious insistence of having never seen the large motorhome parked at her mother-in-law's home, the public will frankly find it hard to believe anything Sturgeon says.

“Having said she would be making no further comment after Murrell's sentencing, Nicola Sturgeon and her lawyer have added to a growing list of statements about this matter, which appear to help manage her reputation rather than shed any light on this scandal.

“Nicola Sturgeon thinks this affair will just go away and the public will move on.

“But the truth is, there are serious outstanding questions about this SNP scandal and Nicola Sturgeon's part in it which must be answered.

“We have repeatedly urged the SNP to back calls for an inquiry into this matter, yet they have refused to do so.

“There is still time for John Swinney to do the right thing and allow this to take place to help restore the public's trust in politics.”

Scottish Conservative deputy leader Rachael Hamilton said: “This blows apart any pretence that Nicola Sturgeon is prepared to be transparent about this SNP scandal.

“There is nothing stopping her from releasing the statement she gave to the police, yet she has decided she prefers hiding behind statements from her lawyer.

“Sturgeon promised to co-operate fully with police yet sat for hours saying nothing while officers were questioning her. The police also made it clear that her written statement left many questions unanswered.

“This decision to keep the public in the dark will only fuel suspicion about what Sturgeon is hiding about what she knew and when about her crooked husband.

“Those are the questions that deserve to be answered during a robust independent inquiry. We'll keep calling for that to take place until John Swinney does the right thing and backs our calls.”