Poland’s Consul General to Canada questioned today the information used to absolve four RCMP officers of criminal charges in the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski at the Vancouver International Airport.
“We are still waiting for real honest information about what was done in the airport,” Tomasz Lis told the Tyee and one television crew.
The Consul’s comments came shortly after B.C.’s Criminal Justice Branch announced that it will not be seeking a prosecution for the RCMP officers who subdued Dzienkanski with a Taser before he died of cardiac arrest on Oct. 14, 2007.
Crown spokesperson Stan Lowe said this morning that several pathologists determined the Taser was not directly responsible for the Polish immigrant’s death. He added that a variety of factors – including a history of heart disease due to alcohol abuse – played a role.
Lowe also said the Crown determined that the four RCMP officers used reasonable force when detaining and subduing Dzienkanski.
“There is a substantial body of independent evidence which supports that the officers in question were lawfully engaged in their duties when they encountered Mr. Dzienkanski,” Lowe said.
Lis said the Polish authorities were not satisfied with the decision.
“My government must express great disappointment that charges will not be laid,” Lis said.
Asked if he thought the RCMP-led investigation into the events of Oct. 14 was based on truthful information, he replied “No.”
Lis also suggested the Polish government might try to lay charges against the four officers. Asked if such an outcome was possible, Lis replied, “I hope.”
Lis declined to comment on how the Polish public will react to today’s decision but he said it is “waiting for justice.”
Asked if justice was served by the Crown he said: “Maybe not today, but in January,” referring to the start of the second phase of the Braidwood inquiry, which will be doing extensive consultations with witnesses and experts to examine the Taser incident in greater detail.
The Consul said he was most concerned not about the use of Tasers in general, but by the fact that RCMP officers did not perform CPR on Dzienkanski after he was subdued.
“My main problem and the number one question is not the using of Tasers – it’s normal all over the world – but the reaction of the RCMP after the accident.”
David Eby, acting executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, said he was concerned that the Crown’s conclusions were based on an investigation conducted by the RCMP.
“We think it’s a real conflict of interest to ask police to investigate their brothers and sisters,” Eby said. He noted that police are subject to civilian investigations in Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec.
Geoff Dembicki is a staff reporter for the Hook.
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wstander
3 years ago
Huh?
“There is a substantial body of independent evidence which supports that the officers in question were lawfully engaged in their duties when they encountered Mr. Dzienkanski,” Lowe said.
The question of whether the four police officers were "lawfully engaged in their duties when they encountered Mr Dzienkaski" is a matter of law, not a matter of "evidence"- independent or otherwise.
I suspect nobody questions that the police were lawfully engaged in their duties when they "encountered" him- the question is whether they were still lawfully engaged in their duties after they encountered him. Four people, five taser shots (not two as alleged by the police in their initial press conferences, and never corrected until today- 14 months after the incident) to subdue an unarmed, man whose worst behaviour was the damaging of a computer. And what was going on for 14 months- collecting "independent evidence"? It appears they spent the time digging up as much dirt on Mr Dzienkaski as the could, and that was the extent of it.
The evidence clearly show that the police assaulted Mr Dzienskaski. The only question is whether the assault was justified, or was excessive in the circumstances. As stated, that is not a question of evidence, and is a decision that should have been made within weeks of the incident.
Grumpy
3 years ago
The only way to get any attention..........
............with the RCMP murdering a Polish citizen, it for Poland to boycott the 2010 Olympics!