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An Alberta RCMP officer accused of illegally accessing a police database to help Rwanda's government was acquitted of all charges in a judge-only trial on Friday.
An Alberta RCMP officer accused of illegally accessing a police database to pass information to Rwanda’s government was acquitted of all charges on Friday. Eli Ndatuje, 39, was found not guilty by Justice Jason Wilkins in a judge-only trial at the Red Deer Court of King’s Bench.
Ndatuje had been facing three charges under the Criminal Code and the Security of Information Act. The Crown alleged that in April 2022, while stationed in Red Deer, he illegally accessed a police database and passed data to the High Commission of Rwanda in Ottawa.
Background of the Case
Ndatuje was born in Uganda to Rwandan refugee parents. He and his family immigrated to Canada when he was 13 and lived in Ottawa. He joined the RCMP in 2018 and was stationed in Red Deer.
Court heard that Ndatuje accessed the police database after receiving a call from a friend who worked at the High Commission of Rwanda in Ottawa at the time. The friend expressed concern about a missing housekeeper who had been working 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. He then suggested his friend contact the Ottawa Police Service.
During closing arguments, the Crown argued that no information is information with regard to the search not yielding any results. While issuing his verdict, Justice Wilkins said that though this is generally a good point, he did not feel it applied to this particular situation.
Testimony and Evidence
Ndatuje testified that he completed the search purely out of concern. He said he never ran other searches for anyone working for the Rwandan government and admitted the situation looked bad.
In an interview with police, Ndatuje said he and the friend spoke about his upcoming trip to Rwanda. He, his wife and their young child were set to travel to Rwanda on April 30 to visit his wife’s family.
Days earlier, Ndatuje contacted someone at the Rwandan embassy regarding his wife’s travel documents because they contained an error that could have affected their upcoming trip. Ndatuje said he mentioned this to his friend, but they also spoke of other things at the time.
The Crown argued it believed the call, which was 18 minutes long, raised the question of whether a quid pro quo situation came into play. The defence argued Ndatuje had not spoken to his friend in years and noted it was perfectly normal for people to catch up with an 18-minute call.
An investigation into Ndatuje’s actions was launched by Canada’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team and saw warrants for wiretaps be executed by investigators. Despite this, Wilkins noted that not one minute of the wiretap was introduced at the trial, and that no evidence of wrongdoing emerged as a result of the surveillance.
Court Verdict and Reaction
When finding Ndatuje not guilty on Friday, Justice Wilkins said while there was an extensive investigation into what happened, the amount of evidence it yielded still left reasonable doubt.
Wilkins said he believes Ndatuje was not trying to be dishonest, oppressive or corrupt but rather to act in the public good. He concluded Ndatuje’s intent was not nefarious and that he did not remarkably depart from conduct expected from him, noting he believes had Ndatuje spoken to a supervisor, an investigation may not have ensued.
Wilkins also said he did not find evidence there was a connection between Ndatuje’s travel plans to Rwanda and the search. He said the Crown’s case relied on circumstantial evidence and was not strong enough.
The trial has drawn attention to the actions of RCMP officers and the handling of sensitive information. The acquittal brings an end to the legal proceedings against Ndatuje.
Eli Ndatuje RCMP Rwanda Red Deer Acquittal Police Database Security Of Information Act
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