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A30 world news
Diaranson 24 Maart 2021

In split vote, probe says Scottish leader misled lawmakers

motivated. court in 2020, and claims “I remain absolutely deter-
the allegations were part of a mined that the Scottish gov-
On Monday, James Hamil- conspiracy to wreck his po- ernment should ensure this
ton, a former chief prosecu- litical career. does not happen again and
tor in Ireland who advises the that together we create a cul-
Scottish government, con- Scotland’s highest civil court ture where these behaviors
cluded that Sturgeon didn’t ruled in 2019 that the gov- do not arise," he said.
mislead parliament or breach ernment's investigation of
the code of conduct for gov- the claims against Salmond The political drama in Edin-
ernment ministers. Sturgeon was unlawful and “tainted by burgh could have major im-
would have faced intense apparent bias,” and award- plications for the future of
pressure to resign if she was ed him more than 500,000 Scotland and the U.K.
found to have broken the pounds ($695,000) in legal
ministerial code. expenses. Scottish voters opted to re-
main part of the U.K. in
Sturgeon called the lawyer’s The scandal has cast a harsh a 2014 independence ref-
(AP) — A Scottish par- findings “official, definitive light on conditions for wom- erendum that was billed
liamentary investigation Its report said Sturgeon had and independent.” en in Scottish politics, with at the time as a once-in-a-
concluded in a split de- given “an inaccurate account" some saying the botched generation decision. But
cision Tuesday that First of what happened at a key The opposition Conserva- handling of Salmond’s case, the Scottish National Party
Minister Nicola Sturgeon meeting with Salmond in tive Party said it would call and repeated leaks to the says Brexit has fundamen-
misled lawmakers about 2018, “and she has misled the for a no-confidence vote in media about the subsequent tally changed the situation by
sexual harassment allega- committee on this matter.” the Scottish Parliament on investigation, would dis- dragging Scotland out of the
tions against her prede- Sturgeon's leadership. She is courage complainants from European Union against its
cessor. It also said Sturgeon’s claim expected to survive with the speaking up. will. A majority of Scottish
about when she first learned backing of SNP and Green voters backed “remain” in the
The finding came a day after of allegations of inappropriate Party legislators. The investigating committee U.K.’s 2016 EU member-
a separate inquiry, by a senior behavior by Salmond toward said Tuesday that the Scottish ship referendum. The U.K.
lawyer, cleared Sturgeon of women — long rumored in The political and personal government’s handling of the as a whole voted narrowly to
wrongdoing in the scandal Scottish political circles — feud has pitted Sturgeon complaints was “seriously leave the bloc.
that is roiling Scottish poli- was “hard to believe.” against her former friend flawed” and the women who
tics weeks before a crucial and mentor Salmond, and is made the allegations were A Scottish Parliament elec-
election. The committee split along wracking Scotland’s pro-in- “badly let down.” tion is due on May 6, and the
party lines, with four law- dependence governing party. SNP leads in opinion polls.
A committee of lawmakers makers from Sturgeon's Deputy First Minister John Sturgeon says if she wins a
has been investigating the governing Scottish National In 2019, Salmond was Swinney apologized to the majority, she will push for a
Scottish government’s han- Party dissenting from those charged with sexual assault women involved, and said new independence referen-
dling of sexual harassment conclusions, and five opposi- and attempted rape after alle- “the Scottish government has dum and challenge British
allegations against Alex Sal- tion members backing them. gations by nine women who acknowledged that it made Prime Minister Boris John-
mond, who served as Scot- had worked with him as first mistakes” in handling the al- son in the courts, if his gov-
land’s first minister before Sturgeon has alleged that the minister or for the party. He legations. ernment refuses to agree.
Sturgeon took office in 2014. criticism of her is politically was acquitted by a criminal

Polish writer facing prison for calling president 'moron'

(AP) — A popular Polish writer is Fines or community service — and victory was somehow not definitive didate had clearly won the election.
facing a potential sentence of up not years in prison — are seen as the and that the Electoral College could
to three years in prison for calling most likely punishment. still change the result. “Joe Biden is the 46th president of
the nation's president a “moron” the United States. Andrzej Duda is a
on social media. However, the case also comes amid That same day, Zulczyk wrote on moron," he wrote.
what many see as an erosion of dem- Facebook that as someone with a
Jakub Zulczyk had criticized the ocratic standards in Poland since a master's degree in American studies, Prosecutors made their indictment
manner in which Polish President right-wing populist party, Law and he had never heard of a “nomination based on the complaint of a private
Andrzej Duda — a close ally of for- Justice, won power in 2015. Crit- by the Electoral College” in the U.S. individual, and it was unclear wheth-
mer President Donald Trump — had ics accuse authorities of aggressively system. He said the Democratic can- er Duda had been informed about it.
reacted to the electoral victory of harnessing prosecutorial powers on
President Joe Biden last year. behalf of those in power.

Zulczyk wrote on Facebook on Mon- The comment in question concerns a
day that a district prosecutor in War- critical response by Zulczyk to a con-
saw had filed an indictment against gratulatory tweet by Duda after U.S.
him based on an article in the penal media called the election for Biden
code that makes it a crime to insult on Nov. 7.
the head of state. Duda offered his congratulations to
Biden “for a successful presidential
Zulczyk said he believed that he is campaign. As we await the nomina-
probably “the first writer in this coun- tion by the Electoral College, Poland
try in a long time to be tried for what is determined to upkeep high-level
they wrote.” Zulczyk is best known and high-quality PL-US strategic
for writing a novel that was turned partnership for an even stronger alli-
into the HBO crime series 'Blinded ance.”
by the Lights.”
At the time of Duda's tweet, many
People have also been charged in the other European leaders were offer-
past for insulting previous Polish ing full-fledged congratulations to
presidents in the post-communist era Biden. At home, Duda was criticized
under the country's broad insult laws. by many for suggesting that Biden's