Tommy Sheridan was today charged over allegations of perjury.
The former Socialist MSP was held in Edinburgh this afternoon after finishing his radio Talk 107 radio show.
Lothian and Borders police have been investigating whether witnesses lied during Mr Sheridan's defamation action against the News of the World.
The flamboyant former leader of the Scottish Socialist Party won £200,000 damages after the newspaper accused the Glasgow MSP of taking part in orgies and cheating on his wife.
The News of the World described the jury's verdict as "perverse". Prosecutors ordered police to carry out a criminal investigation into allegations of perjury during the defamation case.
The Procurator Fiscal at Edinburgh instructed Lothian and Borders Police to begin criminal investigations in October.
Officers detained Mr Sheridan in the car park at the Edinburgh radio station.
Mr Sheridan had been the leader of the Scottish Socialist Party in the Scottish Parliament but the party then split during the defamation action. Many of his former colleagues were hostile witnesses.
He went on to lead the Solidarity party but neither he nor his former colleagues were returned to Holyrood in the May 2007 elections.
Lothian and Borders police confirmed a 43-year-old man had been detained in a perjury inquiry.
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