Salmond wins sexual harassment battle against Scottish government
Former first minister of Scotland Alex Salmond has won a crucial legal battle against the devolved government of the UK’s northernmost country, as authorities admit the entire legal process accusing him of sexually harassing two women was unlawful and biased from the start.
The Court of Session in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh ruled on Tuesday that Scottish government ministers should pay costs incurred on Salmond to defend himself against sexual harassment charges.
Judge Lord Pentland said the government decision last year to launch a probe against Salmond was “procedurally unfair” and marred with “apparent bias”.
The Scottish government also confirmed in a statement that the process to challenge the Scottish political heavyweight was tarnished from the beginning and had involved unlawful appointments. Officials representing the regional government told the court that they had violated their own guidelines in handling the case. They said civil servants appointed to investigate allegations against Salmond had prior contacts with two of his staffers who accused him of sexual harassment over incidents in Salmond’s official residence in Edinburgh in 2013.
Salmond, an outspoken critic of the British government, served as leader of Scotland from 2007 to 2014.
The former leader of the Scottish National Party told reporters after the Tuesday hearing that if it was not for the financial contribution of more than 4,000 of his followers, he might not have been able to advance his legal battle against the Scottish government.
“I never thought at any point I would be taking the Scottish government to court. While I’m glad about the victory, I’m sad that it was necessary to take this action,” he said.
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