Alberta Mountie found not guilty of leaking police data to Rwanda

RED DEER — An Alberta RCMP officer accused of illegally accessing a police database to help the government of Rwanda has been found not guilty on all charges.

Const. Eli Ndatuje, 39, was acquitted Friday in Red Deer Court of King’s Bench after a judge-only trial on three charges under the Criminal Code and the Security of Information Act.

Justice Jason Wilkins said the extensive investigation, dubbed "Operation Salt Mine," did not yield enough evidence to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

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"The effort put into that investigation was not lacking, but the resulting evidence is," Wilkins said.

The Crown had alleged that in April 2022, while stationed in Red Deer, Ndatuje illegally accessed a police database and passed data to the High Commission of Rwanda in Ottawa.

Ndatuje admitted to doing a search on the database but said he did not share the information.

He told police he was contacted by a friend who worked at the Rwandan High Commission and was worried about a missing housekeeper who worked at the Ottawa home of the Rwandan ambassador.

Ndatuje said he searched the database to see if the housekeeper had been reported missing, but it yielded no results, so he suggested his friend contact the Ottawa Police Service.

The housekeeper was later found unharmed.

During closing arguments, the Crown argued that "no information is information" with regard to the search not yielding results.

Wilkins said that while this is generally a good point, he did not feel it applied to this situation.

Ndatuje's lawyer, Robb Beeman, told the trial his client acted out of concern.

"(Ndatuje) did the search because he cared about a missing person," Beeman said. "One would hope that every police officer in this country would share that attitude."

The Crown also pointed to an 18-minute phone call between Ndatuje and his friend, suggesting it raised the question of a quid pro quo, as Ndatuje had recently contacted the Rwandan embassy about an error on his wife's travel documents before a planned family trip.

The defence argued it was normal for people to catch up in an 18-minute call.

Wilkins said he did not find evidence of a connection between Ndatuje's travel plans and the database search.

The investigation involved wiretaps and up to 30 officers and civilian staffers, but Wilkins noted that "not one minute of the wiretap was introduced at the trial."

He said no evidence of wrongdoing emerged from the surveillance.

Wilkins concluded Ndatuje's intent was not "nefarious" and that he "did not remarkedly depart from conduct expected from him."

The judge said he believes Ndatuje was not trying to be dishonest, oppressive or corrupt but rather to act in the public good.

He added that had Ndatuje spoken to a supervisor, an investigation may not have ensued.

Wilkins acknowledged the reason for the RCMP's thorough investigation, citing a rise in foreign interference.

"In recent years, Canada has seen a significant increase in the frequencies, sophistication and illegality of foreign interference," Wilkins said. "The government of Canada is compelled to respond."

Ndatuje was born in Uganda to Rwandan refugee parents and immigrated to Canada with his family when he was 13, settling in Ottawa.

He joined the RCMP in 2018 and was stationed in Red Deer. He was arrested in February 2024 by the RCMP's federal policing team, which identified Rwanda as the alleged "foreign actor" in the case.

Ndatuje called his actions a dumb move but said he was not a spy or a traitor.

With files from The Canadian Press, CBC News and Global News