An Alberta court has begun hearing the case of RCMP Const. Eli Ndatuje, who is accused of improperly accessing a Canadian police database and disclosing safeguarded information to the Government of Rwanda. Ndatuje has pleaded not guilty, and the allegations have not been proven in court.
RED DEER, Alberta - September 21, 2026 - The criminal trial of Royal Canadian Mounted Police Const. Eli Ndatuje opened Monday at the Red Deer Justice Centre, more than two years after he was charged over the alleged misuse of Canadian police information for the benefit of the Republic of Rwanda.
Ndatuje, 39, faces charges under Canada's Criminal Code and Security of Information Act. He has pleaded not guilty.
According to The Canadian Press, as carried by CityNews, Crown prosecutor Kent Brown told the court that prosecutors plan to rely primarily on documentary records and expect to call 13 witnesses.
Brown said the prosecution's case centers on an allegation that Ndatuje searched a police database and then divulged information obtained through that search.
The case remains before the court. None of the allegations against Ndatuje have been proven.
Federal prosecutors identify Rwanda as the alleged recipient
The Rwanda connection is not based solely on media descriptions of the case.
An official Public Prosecution Service of Canada summary of R. v. Eli Ndatuje states that the RCMP officer was charged under section 18(1) of the Security of Information Act for allegedly making an unauthorized disclosure of information to the Government of Rwanda.
The federal prosecution service also lists charges of breach of trust and unauthorized use of a computer under sections 122 and 342.1(1) of the Criminal Code.
JUSTICE & CRIME
RCMP Officer Eli Ndatuje on Trial Over Alleged Disclosure to Rwanda
Sep 22, 2026
Sep 22, 2026
6 min read
Published
Updated:
An Alberta court has begun hearing the case of RCMP Const. Eli Ndatuje, who is accused of improperly accessing a Canadian police database and disclosing safeguarded information to the Government of Rwanda. Ndatuje has pleaded not guilty, and the allegations have not been proven in court.
RED DEER, Alberta - September 21, 2026 - The criminal trial of Royal Canadian Mounted Police Const. Eli Ndatuje opened Monday at the Red Deer Justice Centre, more than two years after he was charged over the alleged misuse of Canadian police information for the benefit of the Republic of Rwanda.
Ndatuje, 39, faces charges under Canada's Criminal Code and Security of Information Act. He has pleaded not guilty.
According to The Canadian Press, as carried by CityNews, Crown prosecutor Kent Brown told the court that prosecutors plan to rely primarily on documentary records and expect to call 13 witnesses.
Brown said the prosecution's case centers on an allegation that Ndatuje searched a police database and then divulged information obtained through that search.
The case remains before the court. None of the allegations against Ndatuje have been proven.
Federal prosecutors identify Rwanda as the alleged recipient
The Rwanda connection is not based solely on media descriptions of the case.
An official Public Prosecution Service of Canada summary of R. v. Eli Ndatuje states that the RCMP officer was charged under section 18(1) of the Security of Information Act for allegedly making an unauthorized disclosure of information to the Government of Rwanda.
The federal prosecution service also lists charges of breach of trust and unauthorized use of a computer under sections 122 and 342.1(1) of the Criminal Code.
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Court records reported when the charges were announced in 2024 alleged that Ndatuje communicated or agreed to communicate safeguarded information from the Canadian police information system to a foreign entity identified as the Republic of Rwanda.
At the time, the RCMP said the officer was alleged to have accessed a non-Top Secret police records system to assist a foreign actor. Police said they introduced measures to monitor and prevent further unauthorized disclosures after becoming aware of the suspected breach.
Defence says database search involved missing housekeeper
Monday's opening proceedings also provided new details about the defence's explanation for Ndatuje's contacts with Rwanda's diplomatic mission in Canada.
Defence lawyer Robb Beeman told the court that Ndatuje had contact with the Rwandan High Commission in Ottawa on two occasions, according to current courtroom reporting.
The first contact, the defence said, concerned confusion surrounding travel documents belonging to Ndatuje's wife.
On another occasion, Beeman said a friend at the Rwandan High Commission contacted Ndatuje because a housekeeper employed at the Ottawa residence of Rwanda's ambassador appeared to be missing.
According to the defence account reported by Canadian media, Ndatuje advised the individual to report the disappearance to Ottawa police and then, on his own initiative, checked a police database to determine whether the housekeeper had been reported missing.
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The housekeeper was later found safe.
Beeman told the court the defence expects the evidence will not establish that Ndatuje disclosed information obtained from the database search.
Global Affairs official confirms call from Rwandan high commissioner
Bill McCrimmon, a foreign-service officer with Global Affairs Canada, testified that the department received a call from the Rwandan high commissioner concerning the missing housekeeper, according to courtroom reporting.
That testimony provides evidence of diplomatic contact concerning the missing-person matter.
It does not, at this stage of the trial, establish that Rwanda's High Commission ordered or requested an unauthorized police-database search, or that diplomatic officials knew such a search would be conducted.
That distinction is important because the Crown and defence are presenting different accounts of what the database activity and subsequent communications amounted to under Canadian law.
Case dates back to April 2022
The allegations concern events said to have occurred in Red Deer on April 23, 2022.
Ndatuje was arrested and charged in February 2024 following an investigation by the RCMP's federal policing team.
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Contemporary CityNews reporting on the charges said court records identified the alleged foreign entity as the Republic of Rwanda and described the information at issue as safeguarded information from Canada's police information system.
The current trial will determine whether prosecutors can prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
Trial expected to continue into October
The Crown has indicated that much of its case will be documentary, supplemented by testimony from 13 witnesses.
The defence, meanwhile, maintains that Ndatuje was attempting to help with a missing-person situation rather than improperly assist a foreign government.
Canadian courtroom reporting says the trial is scheduled to continue into early October 2026.
Until the court reaches a verdict, Ndatuje is presumed innocent and the allegations concerning unauthorized disclosure remain unproven.
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