Once her husband, the SNP’s former chief executive, was taken into custody, the former first minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, declared that she would “completely cooperate” with the authorities.
Later, on Wednesday night, Peter Murrell was released without being charged in the wake of an ongoing inquiry.
In her first statements to the public following the extraordinary expansion of the police investigation into the party’s finances, Ms. Sturgeon said she would “get on with life” and her job.
The ex-SNP leader told reporters said she could not comment on the investigation into the spending of around £600,000 which was earmarked for an independence campaign, ‘as much as there are things I may want to say’.
She continued: ‘The last few days have been obviously difficult, quite dramatic at times, but I understand that is part of a process.
Asked if she had been questioned by officer, the MSP said: ‘I haven’t, but I will fully cooperate with the police as and when they request that, if indeed they do.’
Ms Sturgeon stepped down as SNP leader in February, and handed over the role of first minister to Humza Yousaf at the end of last month following a leadership election.
Speaking outside her home in Uddingston, east of Glasgow, she asked journalists to respect the privacy of her neighbours.
She added that she understands the ‘scrutiny that comes on me as a public figure’, adding: ‘But I’m also entitled to a little bit of privacy in my own home.’
A desire to return to a life away from the full glare of public life was one of the reasons Ms Sturgeon gave for her unexpected decision to step down as first minister in her resignation speech on February 15.
Police searched the couple’s home for more than a day earlier this week, with uniformed officers also searching the SNP’s headquarters in Edinburgh.
Earlier today, party stalwart Mike Russell said the current crisis in the SNP was the most serious in the half-century he had been involved with it.
Mr Russell, who serves as the party’s president, told The Herald newspaper: ‘In my 50-year association with the party this is the biggest and most challenging crisis we’ve ever faced, certainly while we’ve been in government.’
‘But I have an obligation to this party and the movement for Scottish independence that’s been such a massive part of my life for so long.’
He added that he did not believe independence could be ‘secured right now’, though he maintained it was still ‘achievable’.