Former Scottish leader charged with attempted rape

LONDON: Former Scottish leader Alex Salmond, one of the country’s best-known politicians, appeared in court on Thursday on charges including attempted rape and sexual assault. Salmond was arrested on Wednesday, and faces 14 charges: nine counts of sexual assault, two of attempted rape, two of indecent assault and one breach of the peace. No further details were given, and Salmond was not asked to enter a plea.

“I am innocent of any criminality whatsoever,” Salmond said in a brief statement outside Edinburgh court. “I refute absolutely these allegations of criminality and I will defend myself to the utmost in court.”

Salmond stepped down as leader of the governing Scottish National Party in August after two women made allegations of sexual harassment. He took legal action against the Scottish devolved government now led by his successor and protege Nicola Sturgeon over how it handled the complaints process against him. Salmond, who denied any wrongdoing, won a judicial review earlier this month on how that case was handled by the Scottish government when it conceded it had acted unlawfully in probing the harassment claims. The case pitted the two most popular figures in the Scottish independence movement against one another, and some commentators believe it could weaken Sturgeon’s leadership just as she seeks to start a new drive for secession amid the chaos of Britain’s exit from the EU. A dispute has continued to simmer between two factions in the SNP around what Sturgeon knew about the case and when. An inquiry by the parliament is under way.

Salmond led the pro-independence SNP for 20 years and headed Scotland’s semiautonomous government as first minister from 2007 to 2014. A major figure on the Scottish political stage for decades, he led the SNP to its first majority government in 2011 and took Scotland to the verge of independence from the UK by holding a 2014 referendum. He stepped down after the “remain” side won by 55% to 45%.