An investigation into claims that a computer within a government entity had been used to manipulate the Wikipedia page of Council of Europe special rapporteur Pieter Omtzigt concluded that there were no criminality, the Home Affairs Minister said in Parliament on Tuesday.

Byron Camilleri was replying to a parliamentary question filed by Nationalist MP Claudette Buttigieg. The case goes back to October when the Wikipedia page was edited to say that Mr Omtzigt had paid Russia for false information. The change was made from a computer the IP address of which was traced to a Maltese government ministry.

The Dutch MP had made headlines in the previous months when he visited Malta as part of a Council of Europe fact-finding mission on the rule of law. Mr Omtzigt had been very critical of the state of affairs in Malta. He had also levelled harsh criticism on the controversial cash-for-passports scheme on grounds that it could be a vehicle for money laundering. 

The Opposition MP asked the Home Affairs Minister if a police investigation had been launched, which was the ministry from which such manipulation was made and if any steps had been taken.

In a terse reply, Dr Camilleri confirmed the police had looked into the matter but concluded that “there were no elements constituting a criminal act”.

He added that other internal investigations, the nature of which he did not disclose, did not fall under his ministry’s remit.