NICOLA Sturgeon has denied leaning on prosecutors to  help censor explosive evidence about her to the Holyrood inquiry into the Alex Salmond affair.

The First Minister said any suggestion that controversial recent actions by the Crown Office were in any way politically influenced were “downright wrong”.

She also accused her predecessor of making baseless allegations and feeding a “quite dangerous conspiracy theory that has no basis in fact”.

The Scottish Tories had earlier accused the Crown Office of "strong arming Parliament and suppressing evidence...  to protect Nicola Sturgeon" amid a cover-up.

Ms Sturgeon’s comments came after evidence from Mr Salmond relating to whether she lied to parliament were censored following a late Crown Office intervention. 

Holyrood’s cross-party management group, the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) published the material on the parliament’s website in full on Monday.

It then removed, redacted and republished it the following day after the Crown Office raised “grave concerns” about parts risking a breach of a court order related to Mr Salmond’s criminal trial, despite the material being available elsewhere in the public domain. 

Five of the 33 sections were deleted and replaced with purple bars, most relating to Mr Salmond’s claim the First Minister misled parliament and broke the ministerial code.

However other claims to the same effect remained untouched. Ms Sturgeon denies breaching the code.

The SPCB’s decision prompted criticism from other MSPs about the parliament entering a “crisis of credibility” and folding to the Crown Office in a “shameful, historic error”. 

Labour also secured an emergency question to grill the head of the Crown Office, the Lord Advocate James Wolffe QC, in the Holyrood chamber later today.

In the uncensored parts of his evidence, Mr Salmond accused the Crown Office of being too close to what he calls a concerted and malicious effort to ruin him and even have him jailed.

He said the Crown Office was withholding evidence which would support his claims of a high-level SNP plot to remove him from public life, and that under Mr Wolffe’s leadership it is “not fit for purpose”.

READ MORE: MSPs to question Lord Advocate James Wolffe over censored Salmond evidence

After the redactions were made, Mr Salmond cancelled his appearance before the Holyrood committee of inquiry into his legal fight with the Scottish Government, and said he may now testify on Friday, subject to legal advice.

Ms Sturgeon said he had no good reason for backing out and challenged him to produce evidence to back up his claims.

At the daily briefing, Ms Sturgeon was asked if anyone in her government or on her staff had contacted the Crown Office asking it to censor or withhold vital evidence.

She said: “The decisions about what the Scottish Parliament publishes and how it publishes whatever it publishes in compliance with the law are matters for the Parliament, for the Corporate Body. I am not party to these decisions.

"The decisions the Crown Office takes in relation to enforcing or upholding the law, and this relates specifically to your question, are taken independently by the Crown Office, independently of Government.

“And any suggestion - any suggestion at all - that these decisions are in any way politically influenced are downright wrong.

“But I would suggest that they go further than that, that they actually start to but into what is a false and quite dangerous conspiracy theory that has no basis in fact.”

“You refer to allegations made by Alex Salmond. I don’t think there is a shred of evidence behind those allegations and the claims that have been made.

“But Alex Salmond has had the opportunity - he had the opportunity today - to be in front of the committee  and to try to substantiate those allegations.

“Now he’s declined that opportunity today, I don’t with any good reason, and I hope he comes to the committee in early course so that he can say what he wants, put forward any claims that he wants, and crucially bring forward the evidence.

“In terms of the submission that the Parliament redacted yesterday that relates to one part of the committee’s inquiry. I don't think it inhibits the questioning of me.

“The allegations in relation to that part of the inquiry, that Alex Salmond is making about me, have been widely reported in the media and in the public domain.

“I have always and continue to be of the view that I will be fully questioned on all of these issues by the committee when I appear, hopefully a week today, fully and in detail. 

“There’s no reason why I shouldn’t be and I don’t think there’s any reason why Alex Salmond shouldn’t sit in front of that committee, make whatever claims he wants to make, say whatever he wants to say, and bring whatever evidence he thinks he has to bear.

“There was no conspiracy theory [sic], and I sometimes think the preference perhaps of Mr Salmond is to continue to make those claims without ever subjecting them to the proper scrutiny of the parliamentary committee looking into them.

“I hope he proves me wrong on that by getting himself in front of the committee in early course and then I look forward to appearing next week.”

READ MORE: Alex Salmond pulls out of Holyrood inquiry after evidence censored

She said next week was the sixth date she had been given to appear, with recent dates rearranged because Mr Salmond had backed out.

She said: “I want to get in front of this committee, to answer every and all questions that people have of me, to address all the issues that people have, and to rebut, frankly, head-on and very directly some of the wild, untrue, false and baseless claims that have been made in recent times.”

The inquiry is looking at how the Scottish Government bungled a probe into sexual misconduct claims made against Mr Salmond in 2018.

He had the exercise set aside in a judicial review, showing it was “tainted by apparent bias”, a Government flaw that left taxpayers with a £512,000 bill for his costs.

He was later charged with sexual assault but cleared of all counts at a High Court trial last March.

He has claimed the prosecution was driven by people close to Ms Sturgeon who resented his victory in the civil case and wanted to damage him and remove from public life, "even to the extent of having me imprisoned".

He said SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, Ms Sturgeon's husband since 2010, was among the plotters.