An Alberta RCMP officer accused of using a police database to help Rwanda was found not guilty Friday of three charges under the Criminal Code and the Security of Information Act. Const. Eli Ndatuje had been charged over the alleged illegal use of the database to assist Rwanda’s High Commission in Ottawa. The RCMP identified Rwanda as the alleged “foreign actor” in the case.

Court of King’s Bench Justice Jason Wilkins said the evidence did not support the charges, despite the resources devoted to the case. “The effort put into that investigation was not lacking, but the resulting evidence is,” he said. The investigation, called Operation Salt Mine, involved wiretaps and up to 30 officers and civilian staffers.

Wilkins said there was reason for the RCMP to investigate thoroughly. “In recent years, Canada has seen a significant increase in the frequencies, sophistication and illegality of foreign interference,” he said. “The government of Canada is compelled to respond.”

Ndatuje, 39, acknowledged checking the police database to see whether anyone had reported a missing person, but said he did not pass information along. He called the search a dumb move, while denying he was a spy or a traitor. He was arrested in February 2024 by the RCMP’s federal policing team after an extensive investigation.

At trial, the court heard that Ndatuje and his family fled war-torn Uganda and moved to Ottawa when he was a teenager. His lawyer, Robb Beeman, said Ndatuje had been in contact with the Rwandan High Commission twice, both times for innocent reasons. In April 2022, Beeman said, Ndatuje contacted the commission to clear up confusion about his wife’s travel documents.

The other contact began when a friend at the High Commission raised concern about a housekeeper who had disappeared from the Ottawa residence of Rwanda’s ambassador. Ndatuje took the initiative to check the police database for a missing-person report, the court heard. No report was on file, and the housekeeper was later found unharmed.

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

Based on reporting by Global News Edmonton.