Polish man's death should serve as warning against Tasers, priest says
Source: CBC News
Posted: 07/19/08 2:28PM
Filed Under: Canada
People in Robert Dziekanski's hometown in Poland gathered on Saturday to remember the 42-year-old man, who died last October after RCMP officers jolted him with a stun gun at Vancouver International Airport.
His mother and stepfather, Zofia and Peter Cisowski, were among those attending the service, held at a Roman Catholic church in Pieszyce, a small town in southwestern Poland.
Rev. Edward Dzik told mourners he hopes Dziekanski's death will serve as a warning against the use of Tasers.
Dziekanski was pronounced dead on Oct. 14, 2007, shortly after being struck twice with a Taser fired by RCMP officers.
He had arrived in Vancouver to start a new life with his mother, who lives in Kamloops. The Polish immigrant was confronted by four RCMP officers who tried to subdue him at the airport after he began acting erratically. At the time, he had been in a waiting area for 10 hours, without finding his mother.
The incident prompted the launching of an inquiry into the police use of Tasers.
The first phase of the inquiry, headed by retired B.C. Court of Appeal justice Thomas Braidwood, ended in May. It focused on Taser use, as well as deaths and injuries associated with the weapon.
The second phase of the inquiry, which will begin in October, will focus on Dziekanski's death. Crown prosecutors have not made a decision about whether charges will be laid against the officers who were at the scene when he died.
An urn holding half his ashes will be buried in Poland. The rest of his ashes will remain with his mother in Canada.
Robert Dziekanski's mother, Zofia Cisowski, weeps as she sits next to her husband, Peter Cisowski, right, at Saturday's memorial service.(CBC)
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