Former Scottish PM Alex Salmond pleads guilty to sexual assault

The former MP is accused of sexual assault by ten women, including two attempted rapes. He left his party, the SNP, in August, so as not to prejudice his training because of the charges against him.

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They are ten to accuse him. Former Scottish independence prime minister Alex Salmond pleaded Thursday November 21 unsubstantiated charges of sexual assault, including two attempted rape, in front of the Scottish High Court in Edinburgh. Salmond, 64, Scotland's prime minister from 2007 to 2014, vowed to defend himself "Vigorously" at the end of the hearing, affirming "Innocent of all charges".

The former MP is accused of sexual assault by ten women, ranging from forced kissing to touching, to sexual assault with "Intention to violate" and an attempted rape at her official residence during the Scottish independence referendum campaign in 2014. According to the prosecution, Salmond then forcibly kissed a woman before pushing her against a wall, trying to tear off his clothes and to get naked himself, then he tried to rape her on a bed.

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At the head of the SNP

The trial date has been set for 9 March. It should last four weeks. Alex Salmond had left the Scottish National Party (SNP), party independence, in August, so as not to prejudice his training because of the charges against him.

A former civil servant and economist of the Bank of Scotland, he took the reins of the SNP in 1990, a very heterogeneous formation that he helped refocus.

After slamming the door of the nationalist party in 2000 after an electoral setback, he returned to his head four years later and was elected "First Minister" (Prime Minister) of Scotland in 2007. In 2011, under his leadership, the SNP won an absolute majority in the Scottish Parliament of Holyrood, giving him hope that the independence of Scotland was at hand.

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The no had finally prevailed in the independence referendum in September 2014, causing a few weeks later the resignation of Mr. Salmond as prime minister.

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