ISLAMABAD: An edited photograph depicting Scotland’s former first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, sitting in the back seat of a police vehicle has been widely shared online following her arrest as part of a police investigation in June 2023.
According to Reuters, Sturgeon was questioned and detained by Police Scotland for over seven hours in relation to an ongoing probe into the use of funds raised by the Scottish National Party. However, she was subsequently released without charges, pending further investigation.
Several examples of the manipulated image, falsely portraying Sturgeon’s arrest, have been circulating on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.
Original Photo of Nicola Sturgeon
The original photograph, taken by John Linton on April 18, 2017, captures Sturgeon looking out the window of a grey-colored car. The genuine image is captioned as follows: “First Minister Nicola Sturgeon leaves Bute House in Edinburgh, as she has warned that the Prime Minister’s plans for a shock general election could be a ‘huge political miscalculation'” on Getty Images.
The edited version of the photo incorporates the characteristic yellow-and-blue checkered pattern typically found on police vehicles in Scotland.
