ALEX Salmond has said the imprisonment of former diplomat Craig Murray has "shamed Scotland".

The former First Minister and SNP leader made the remarks ahead of Murray's release on Tuesday from Saughton Prison in Edinburgh.

Speaking to the national council of the Alba party, which he now leads, Salmond, told the event in Dunfermline at the weekend: “In the treatment of Craig Murray, the Scottish judicial system has shamed itself internationally.

"Recently our country welcomed delegates from some 200 nations and territories to our major city of Glasgow, to discuss the future of the planet. 

"What would these delegates have thought of us, if they knew that we were a nation which jailed journalists, particularly one of the intelligence, track record and calibre of Craig Murray?"

He added: "We prepare tomorrow to celebrate our national day and Craig’s release on that very day. But St Andrew’s Day should be more than a day.

"It should be an idea - the idea of a forward-looking, compassionate country where civil liberties are of paramount importance.

"None of that is compatible with the jailing of Craig Murray, even as a civil prisoner, and the government and legal establishment who perpetrated or facilitated that deed should be hanging their heads in shame.”

Last month supporters Alba MP Neale Hanvey wrote to Scottish Justice Secretary Keith Brown urging him to release Murray from jail to "safeguard his life".

Murray was sentenced to eight months in prison in July after he was found to have been in contempt of court.

Judges ruled his blog coverage of Salmond's trial could identify four complainers.

The former first minister was acquitted of all charges against him and walked free from court.

A previous call to Brown, by supporters of the former ambassador amid concerns of the 62-year-old contracting Covid in prison, had been rejected.

Hanvey asked the Justice Secretary to bring in emergency legislation that would allow civil prisoners to be released under the home detention scheme which would have allowed him to serve the remainder of his sentence in the family home.

He stressed that Murray has a number of underlying health issues which put him at a higher risk of dying from Covid-19.