Alex Salmond, former First Minister of Scotland, has been accused carrying out two assaults while in office in 2013 (pictured at Scottish Parliament Septmeber 2013)
Nicola Sturgeon today insisted allegations that Alex Salmond sexually assaulted two staff members cannot be ‘swept under the carpet’.
Ms Sturgeon admitted she was struggling to ‘come to terms’ with the claims against her SNP predecessor and they would be ‘upsetting for the party.
But she said the complaints had to be investigated ‘without fear or favour’ – making clear the Scottish government would fight Mr Salmond’s objections to the process.
Mr Salmond has denied carrying out the assaults at his official residence in 2013 while he was still First Minister.
The allegations, which arose from an internal Scottish Government inquiry, are reported to have been passed on to Police Scotland.
However, the force said it was ‘not going to comment on whether an inquiry is ongoing’.
Mr Salmond said he now plans to take the Scottish Government to court over the allegations, which he described as ‘patently ridiculous’.
The 63-year-old last night issued a statement denying the accusations, adding he had launched a judicial review challenging the legality of the Scottish Government’s investigation.
He said: ‘For many months now, and on the advice of senior counsel, I have attempted to persuade the Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government that she is behaving unlawfully in the application of a complaints procedure, introduced by her more than three years after I left office.
‘This is a procedure so unjust that even now I have not been allowed to see and therefore to properly challenge the case against me. I have not been allowed to see the evidence.
‘I have tried everything, including offers of conciliation, mediation and legal arbitration to resolve these matters both properly and amicably.
‘This would have been in everybody’s interests, particularly those of the two complainants. All of these efforts have been rejected.
‘The Permanent Secretary chose to deny me contact with any current civil servant, many of whom wished to give evidence on my behalf and access to documentation to allow me to properly challenge the complaints, all of which I refute and some of which were patently ridiculous.
‘The procedure as put into operation by the Permanent Secretary is grossly unfair and therefore inevitably will lead to prejudicial outcomes.
‘It is therefore with great reluctance that I have today launched a judicial review in the Court of Session which will decide the issue of the lawfulness of the procedure which has been used against me.
‘If I lose then I will have to answer to the complaints both comprehensively and publicly. Until then I am bound to say nothing which would impinge on the court proceedings.
‘In our submissions on judicial review we have asked that the complainants’ identity be protected.
Nicola Sturgeon (pictured on a visit to a building site in Glasgow earlier this week) admitted she was struggling to ‘come to terms’ with the claims against her SNP predecessor and they would be ‘upsetting for the party
The 63-year-old has denied the accusations and has asked for a judicial review challenging the legality of the Scottish Government’s investigation (pictured Bute House, the official residency of the first minister of Scotland)
‘If the Court of Session finds in my favour then the administration at the senior levels of the Scottish Government will have the most serious questions to answer.
‘In my opinion and for whatever reason the Permanent Secretary has decided to mount a process against me using an unlawful procedure which she herself introduced.
‘I will let a real court decide whether it was lawful for her to do so.’
But Ms Sturgeon responded in a statement today: ‘These complaints have been considered since then under a procedure covering ministers and former ministers that was agreed by me in December 2017 in the wake of public concern about harassment.
‘Although I have been aware for some time of the fact of the investigation – initially from Alex Salmond – I have had no role in the process, and to have referred to it before now would have compromised the integrity of the internal investigation, which I was not prepared to do.’
Ms Sturgeon said the Scottish Government ‘refutes’ Mr Salmond’s criticisms of the process and ‘will defend its position vigorously’.
‘However, this focus on process cannot deflect from the fact that complaints were made that could not be ignored or swept under the carpet,’ she said.
Ms Sturgeon’s statement continued: ‘I have been clear on many occasions that all organisations and workplaces must make it possible for people to come forward to report concerns and have confidence that they will be treated seriously.
‘For that principle to mean anything it cannot be applied selectively. It must be applied without fear or favour, regardless of the identity, seniority or political allegiance of the person involved.
‘My relationship with Alex Salmond obviously makes this an extremely difficult situation for me to come to terms with. I am also acutely aware how upsetting this will be for my party.
‘However the over-riding priority must be to ensure fair and due process. I would also ask that the privacy of those who have complained be respected.’
Mr Salmond was elected First Minister in 2007 in the SNP’s first ever Holyrood election victory.
He stepped down seven years later in the wake of the 2014 independence referendum defeat.