Dans l'affaire Dziekanski, la responsabilité directe du Taser est écartée.

Dans l'affaire Dziekanski, les médecins ont finalement conclu que l'immigrant polonais égaré à l'aéroport de Vancouver était alcoolique et probablement entré dans une crise de panique entraînant sa mort. Ces conclusions mettent le Taser hors de cause.

L'homme est mort pendant son arrestation, entraînant une vive polémique dans l'opinion. Les personnes hostiles au Taser s'étaient, à tort, immédiatement emparées de cet évènement tragique pour dénigrer le pistolet paralysant.
 
Les officiels ont indiqué que les décharges de Taser ont bien touché M. Dziekanski, mais que sa mort n'est pas directement due au Taser. En effet, l'autopsie a conclu, que M. Dziekanski est décédé d'une "mort subite après contention" sans doute liée à son alcoolisme chronique. Le manque d'alcool associé au stress est donc la cause de la mort de ce malheureux.


Amnesty International ne demande plus de moratoire.
 
Il faut ajouter, que l'organisation Amnesty International ne demande plus de moratoire sur l'interdiction du Taser. Elle met l'accent sur la formation à l'usage de ce système, ainsi que sur la lutte contre la banalisation de son emploi. On a même pu lire dans le journal le monde que l'un des représentants d'Amnesty International se dit "proche d'un accord".


Voici un extrait des conclusions du rapport médical du Département de la Justice du British-Columbia concernant l'affaire Dziekanski :

" [...] CAUSE OF DEATH

An autopsy was conducted on Mr. Dziekanski. The Forensic Pathologist observed the presence and signs of chronic alcohol abuse. However, toxicology tests showed that Mr. Dziekanski did not have any drugs or alcohol in his system at the time of his death. This raised the possibility that alcohol withdrawal may have played a role in his behaviour before and during his dealings with police.

The Forensic Pathologist concluded that Mr. Dziekanski’s death was as a result of “Sudden Death Following Restraint”. He found no definite cause of death, which is typical of these types of incidents. Sudden Death Following Restraint cases usually involve individuals who exhibit combative and bizarre behaviour. As a result, these cases often involve law enforcement personnel, but some cases include medical personnel and occasionally ordinary citizens. Sudden Death Following Restraint has been associated with virtually all forms of physical restraint, most instances of which did not involve the use of a taser. Before the taser was in use in Canada, Sudden Deaths Following Restraint were not uncommon.
In the Pathologist’s opinion, the use of the taser did not directly cause the cardiac arrest. Two other Forensic Pathologists concurred with that view. The combined opinions of three Pathologists identified several factors which could have contributed to the cardiac arrest causing death, these include heart disease due to chronic alcohol abuse, an agitated state of delirium, the stress of the physical restraint worsened by the deployment of the taser, a decreased ability to breathe as a result of being restrained in the prone position for part of the struggle, and alcohol withdrawal.
Two medical experts in the area of Addiction Psychiatry and Alcohol Related Disease also reviewed this case. They identified a number of factors which could explain Mr. Dziekanski’s bizarre and aggressive behaviour at YVR. Both experts concluded that Mr. Dziekanski was exhibiting behaviour consistent with the medical syndrome of delirium prior to death. The onset of the delirium could be explained by a number of factors including: alcohol withdrawal; lack of sleep; dehydration; and a high degree of anxiety. These factors would have placed Mr. Dziekanski at increased risk for sudden death.
[...] "