'Didn't commit this crime': Nicola Sturgeon says she is paying the price for ex-husband's SNP theft

Nicola Sturgeon has broken her silence on Peter Murrell's embezzlement conviction, saying she refuses to apologise for what another person did and that she feels punished despite being innocent.The former Scottish first minister spoke on the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme after Murrell, her ex-husband and the former chief executive of the Scottish National Party, pleaded guilty this week to embezzling more than £400,000 from the party.Murrell, 61, spent the stolen money between 2010 and 2022 on items including a luxury motor home, a Jaguar SUV, boutique cosmetics, iPads and a Lalique salt and pepper set worth £2,618. He is due to be sentenced in June.Sturgeon, 55, was direct in her response. "I am not responsible for the crimes that my former husband committed and I'm not going to apologise for somebody else's crimes," she said.She added that Murrell "deceived" and "misled" her and described her current situation in stark terms. "He is serving and will be serving a sentence for a crime he committed. I'm out here feeling as if I'm serving a sentence for a crime I did not commit."Sturgeon also made clear she was speaking for a wider group. She said she would not contribute to the idea that women should be held responsible for the actions of men in their lives and pointed to messages she had received from other women who felt betrayed by their partners.Sturgeon was not charged after a police investigation and has consistently said she had no knowledge of Murrell's actions. She has previously described being "completely cleared and exonerated."Speaking at the Hay festival in Wales on Friday, she noted that her photograph had appeared on more Scottish front pages this week than Murrell's had. "I don't think that's right," she said.She said she had no intention of stepping back from public life. "I've done nothing wrong. So I'm not going to hide away."The SNP now faces pressure for an independent inquiry into its finances. The party is also preparing for two UK parliamentary by-elections in Aberdeen South and Arbroath and Broughty Ferry, both scheduled for June.