Former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond has said he “absolutely refutes” any accusations of criminality after he was charged on Thursday with two counts of attempted rape and nine counts of sexual assault.

Salmond was arrested and charged in Scotland yesterday after voluntarily going to the police station to be questioned on the allegations, but was not held in custody overnight. The former SNP leader, who hosts a show on RT, was also charged with two counts of indecent assault and one count of breach of the peace.

In a statement after appearing in court on Thursday, Salmond denied the allegations and said he was “innocent of any criminality.” He said that given that proceedings were underway in the current case, he was unable to comment further other than to say he refuted the accusations and would defend himself “to the utmost” in court.

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“I’ve got great faith in the court system of Scotland. I’ve got recent cause to have great faith in the court system of Scotland,” he said.

Salmond was referring to a separate legal case which he won against the Scottish government over the handling of an investigation into the complaints against him. In that case, the court found that the inquiry had been "tainted with apparent bias."

Editor's note: RT comment on Alex Salmond case

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