Border agency to give details in airport Taser death
Last Updated: Monday, November 26, 2007 | 1:40 PM PT
CBC News
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- CBC-TV's Heather Hiscox talks to the Walter Kosteckyj, lawyer for Robert Dziekanski's mother, Zofia Cisowski. (Runs: 4:38)
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The Canada Border Services Agency is expected to face tough questions at a news conference Monday about the circumstances surrounding the death of a Polish immigrant at Vancouver International Airport last month.
Border Services officials are expected to give their account of an alleged communication breakdown on Oct. 14 in the hours before Robert Dziekanski's death.
Dziekanski died just minutes after he was given two Taser jolts and pinned down by four RCMP officers at the airport.
The 40-year-old, who did not speak fluent English, became agitated after languishing for hours in a secure customs area as his mother fruitlessly tried to get help finding him from the public side.
The incident, which was captured on video by a witness, has sparked fierce debate over the officers' actions and the use of Tasers by law enforcement agencies across the country.
It is unclear where Dziekanski was during his 10 hours at the airport, what he was doing and why no translators or airport staff were on hand to assist him.
Lawyer Walter Kosteckyj, who represents Dziekanski's mother, Zofia Cisowski, told CBC News on Monday that after confirming Dziekanski's flight had arrived, a companion who had driven her to the airport was told by a CBSA official that there was no record of a Polish immigrant arriving that day.
"He was told that without breaching any confidence, there were no Polish immigrants there today and that they should go home, that he wasn't there," Kosteckyj said.
The companion said the conversation lasted four or five minutes and the border services official wasn't interested in checking Dziekanski's name, Kosteckyj added.
The exchange prompted Cisowski to return to her home in Kamloops, B.C., believing her son had missed his flight.
At least seven investigations, including a provincial inquiry and a House of Commons public safety committee investigation, have been called to probe Dziekanski's death or the use of Tasers since last month.
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