Manipulation of Dutch MP’s Wikipedia page not criminal, minister says

A police investigation into the manipulation of Council of Europe special rapporteur Pieter Omtzigt's Wikipedia page concluded that there was no criminal activity involved, Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri said.

Answering a parliamentary question tabled by Nationalist MP Claudette Buttigieg, Camilleri said, "there were no elements constituting a criminal act."

The case goes back to October of last year when Omtzigt's Wikipedia page was edited to read that the Dutch rapporteur had paid Russia for false information. The edits came from a computer, the IP address of which was traced to a Maltese government ministry. 

The edit also echoes what former prime minister Joseph Muscat had said numerous times on Omtzigt, that the rapporteur had peddled conspiracy theories in the shooting down of a Malaysian Airlines plane over Ukraine in 2014. Muscat said Omtzigt credibility was questionable at a time when Omtzigt was very critical of Malta's institutions.

Omtzigt had also criticised Malta's cash-for-passport scheme, claiming such a scheme could potentially be a vehicle for money laundering.

In answer to Buttigieg's question, Camilleri said the editing of Omtzigt's Wikipedia page did not constitute a criminal act.