Alex Salmond is appearing in court today for a preliminary hearing before his trial on 14 alleged sexual offences begins next month.
The former SNP leader, 65, denies all the allegations against him, which include an attempted rape at Bute House, the official residence of the First Minister, during the 2014 independence referendum campaign.
Salmond is due to appear at the High Court in Glasgow for a third preliminary hearing this morning.
At a previous hearing in Edinburgh in November, judge Lady Dorrian set the trial date for March 9. The full trial is expected to last about four weeks.
Speaking to the media outside the court after the first preliminary hearing, Mr Salmond said:
I’m not permitted to say too much today save that we’ve launched our defence statement with the court.
It pleads not guilty to all charges and explains some of the circumstances in which they’ve come about. I’m also conscious we’re in the middle of a general election campaign. I’m not going to say anything which would influence that democratic process.
We’re now into a second year of court actions, first civil and now criminal – it’s over ten months since we won the civil action.
I am innocent and I will defend my position vigorously but the only place, the only proper place to answer criminal charges, is in this court – and that’s exactly what we intend to do next spring.
The full list against Mr Salmond contains 14 charges that span a period between June 2008 and November 2014.
Several charges involved the accused allegedly groping women, including one incident at the Ego nightclub in Edinburgh in December 2010 or 2011, and another at the Ubiquitous Chip restaurant in Glasgow in March 2012.
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