NICOLA Sturgeon has repeatedly refused to say if her husband Peter Murrell is innocent of any wrongdoing in connection with the SNP’s finances.

The former first minister was speaking to journalists after she returned to Holyrood for the first time since her arrest earlier this month.

While she said she was “absolutely certain that I have done nothing wrong” she declined to answer when asked if the same was true of her husband or anyone else in the party.

Earlier this month, detectives questioned the ex-SNP leader for seven hours before releasing her without charge, pending further investigation.

She was the third person to be arrested in connection with Operation Branchform, the Police Scotland probe into the party’s funding and finances.

Mr Murrell, formerly the SNP’s chief executive, and Colin Beattie, the then treasurer, were arrested and released without charge earlier in the year.

As part of the investigation, both SNP HQ in Edinburgh and the Glasgow home Ms Sturgeon shares with Mr Murrell were searched by police.

A luxury campervan was seized from outside the home of Mr Murrell’s 92-year-old mother.

Police are investigating whether £600,000 raised for fighting an independence referendum has been spent on other things.

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