A man has appeared in court accused of posting racist messages about former Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf.
Alastair Peter Dow faces charges that he published racially aggravated messages relating to Mr Yousaf on the social media platform X.
The 64-year-old is additionally charged with posting racially offensive messages to Glasgow MSP Kaukab Stewart.
Dow, of Hollybank Place, Aberdeen, denied all the charges against him when he appeared in the dock at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
Dow accused of posting about former First Minister
The charges allege that Dow published messages of a racially aggravated manner to Mr Yousaf from an address in South Lanarkshire between February 28 and March 26 last year.
It is claimed these messages were posted to X – formerly known as Twitter – with the intention of causing alarm or distress.
They are alleged to be offensive in nature.
Dow also faces a second charge of posting racially offensive messages about Mr Yousaf on June 27 last year.
It is claimed these were sent from Dow’s home address in Aberdeen.
He faces a third charge of publishing posts of a racially aggravated manner about SNP politician Kaukab Stewart.
Ms Stewart has served as MSP for the Glasgow Kelvin area since 2021 and is the current Minister for Equalities.
Similarly to the charges Dow faces relating to Mr Yousaf, he is accused of posting messages to X that were intended to cause Ms Stewart distress or alarm.
It is claimed these alleged posts were sent on December 3 last year and from a location near the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.
Dow, who represented himself in court, pleaded not guilty to all three charges.
He was granted bail and will appear again at Aberdeen Sheriff Court next month.