ST ANDREWS, Scotland, September 17 (RIA Novosti), Mark Hirst -Professor Louise Richardson, the Principal of St Andrews, one of Scotland's oldest Universities, has not made a complaint of alleged "bullying or harassment" by the First Minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond, her official spokeswoman has told RIA Novosti Wednesday.
"No complaint [of bullying or harassment] has been made. The story has come from a Freedom of Information request that was issued yesterday," Emma Shea, the Principal's Press Officer told RIA Novosti, responding to a question on whether the Principal would be making a complaint of bullying or harassment against the First Minister.
Shea confirmed that neither the University nor Richardson would be making any formal statement over the row.
"The emails [obtained by the newspapers] were released under Freedom of Information laws and not leaked," she explained.
The Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail newspapers published details on Wednesday of what were described as "leaked" emails, which unnamed critics say amounts to the "bullying" of Professor Louise Richardson, Principal and Vice Chancellor of St Andrews University and author of "What terrorists want" by Salmond.
The Daily Telegraph claimed the emails, dating from March 2013, "show that Mr Salmond's office attempted to have Professor Richardson release a statement praising the Scottish Government and criticising Westminster over higher education policy."
A statement released on behalf of Salmond read, "The First Minister hugely values Louise Richardson's input on a whole range of issues, including as a member of his council of economic advisers, and the contact with the university in this case was part of that routine dialogue. Mr Aberdein [Salmond's Chief of Staff who wrote the emails obtained by the newspapers] was simply doing his job, and the discussions with counterparts at the university were cordial, as the email exchanges show."
Richardson is a political scientist who grew up in Ireland and a specialist in the study of terrorism.
In 2006 Richardson authored "What terrorists want – Understanding the terrorist threat" in which she described her "anger" following the massacre of 14 civil rights protesters by the British Army in Derry in 1972. "I was fourteen, and if the IRA would have had me I'd have joined in a heart-beat," Richardson wrote.
Richardson became Principal and Vice Chancellor of St Andrews University in 2009.
