Scotland”s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon did not breach the ministerial code of conduct over her involvement in the investigation into harassment complaints against Alex Salmond, an independent inquiry has found.
“I am of the opinion that the First Minister did not breach the provisions of the Ministerial Code,” James Hamilton, the former director of Ireland’s public prosecutions, said in a statement accompanying the release of his report.
The investigation looked at whether Sturgeon had misled parliament over meetings she held with Salmond over the case and whether she had attempted to influence the conduct of the investigation against him.
Salmond, Scotland’s former First Minister, was tried and acquitted last year on sexual assault charges, and claims the allegations made by several women were part of a conspiracy to wreck his political career.
Last week a parliamentary committee concluded that Sturgeon had misled Scottish lawmakers and that she had contradicted herself in her account of a meeting at the start of the case.
