ALEX Salmond has criticised the BBC for an interview it broadcast yesterday with one of the women who made a criminal complaint against him.
The former First Minister said it was not for the broadcaster to question either the verdict in his trial or an earlier civil case which found the Scottish Government had acted unlawfully in handling complaints against him.
The woman dismissed Salmond’s claim as “utterly absurd” that her case was part of a conspiracy to bring him down – but she also hit out at both the Scottish Government and MSPs investigating its mishandling of complaints made against the former First Minister – saying it was now harder for women with concerns to come forward.
Asked on BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show if there was any merit in the claim there was a conspiracy against Salmond, the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: “It is utterly absurd to suggest that nine women could be persuaded to lie to the police, to perjure themselves in court. The truth is that we individually had experiences of Alex Salmond’s behaviour.”
Salmond stood trial in March last year on charges of sexual offences and was acquitted of all charges. His defence advocate Gordon Jackson QC suggested to the court the complaints were made as part of a plot to stop his return to frontline politics.
Responding to the woman’s claims in the television interview, a spokesperson for Salmond underlined the former First Minister had been exonerated in two legal actions.
“Alex has been through two very lengthy and public legal processes, the first of which established that he had been treated unlawfully by the government and the second established his innocence on all charges,” she said.
“The parliamentary inquiry is not into alleged conduct on which he was cleared nearly a year ago, but is instead on the unlawful actions of the Government and its officials.
READ MORE: Prominent supporter of Alex Salmond to take legal action against Crown Office
“His acquittal last March followed an exhaustive and comprehensive police and Crown investigation and a lengthy trial before fifteen members of the public who heard and assessed all of the evidence. It is not for the BBC or indeed the Committee to question them. Alex continues to have great faith in the jury system and the Scottish courts.”
The former First Minister won a judicial review against the Scottish Government after two women civil servants made complaints about his behaviour. The Court of Session ruled the process was unlawful, unfair and “tainted by apparent bias” and awarded him more than £500,000 in costs.
The Holyrood inquiry now entering its final stages was set up to establish what went wrong in the government’s mishandling of the complaints.
The woman, whose voice and appearance was changed in the Sunday Show interview, said the way the issue had been politicised by the Holyrood’s inquiry into the Scottish Government’s mishandling of the complaints, was “in many ways more traumatic than the criminal trial”.
The committee has been beset by problems. Several senior civil servants have changed aspects of their statements and there have been ongoing rows between the committee and the Government over access to officials and the legal advice given to the Government.
MSPs on the committee have taken different views on the publication of Salmond’s submission, despite large parts of it already being in the public domain.
Last week a judge ruled it can be published.
Linda Fabiani, the convener of the Holyrood committee, said she was saddened to hear the woman’s views. She said: “I am really sorry that people feel that way, that women feel that way ... I can only apologise for myself and can’t apologise for anyone else, that’s up to them.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We welcome the opportunity which the parliamentary inquiry and the externally led review bring to address issues which have been raised, and which we have acknowledged. We... will ensure that lessons from these proceedings are fully recognised.”
He added support is available for any staff who should need it.
The BBC said: “Our interview focussed on the the parliamentary inquiry and its impact on the woman in question and others.”
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