Vancouver: A Canadian inquiry was wrong to
conclude that electrical stun guns carry a risk of "serious
injury or death," the US maker of Taser devices told a
Canadian court.
Taser International is challenging the findings of a
commission into the October 2007 death of Polish traveller
Robert Dziekanski at the airport in this Western Canadian
city.
Dziekanski, a new immigrant from Poland, spent some 10
hours lost at the airport before becoming distraught and
throwing furniture. He died minutes after four policemen
arrived, immediately stunned him five times with a Taser
device, and then physically restrained him.
The confrontation and death was captured on a bystander`s
video, and made international headlines.
The police were not justified in using the Taser, said
the final report in June by Commissioner Thomas Braidwood, a
retired judge, who said the use of the Taser and a physical
struggle "contributed substantially to Mr. Dziekanski`s
death."
A 2009 preliminary report by the Braidwood commission
focused on the Taser, concluding that "conducted-energy
weapons do have the capacity to cause serious injury or
death."
The British Columbia Supreme Court has set aside five
days to hear a challenge of those findings by Taser, which has
said the commission findings are hurting its sales
internationally.
PTI
