RCMP officer files lawsuit against CBC

Const. Kwesi Millington, the RCMP officer who fired a Taser at Robert Dziekanski in Vancouver has filed a libel lawsuit against the CBC, The Canadian Press reports.

According to the CP report, Millington is asking for damages, claiming CBC’s “publications and broadcasts have defamed him.”

Four RCMP officers approached Dziekanski at the Vancouver airport in October 2007, and Millington fired a Taser at the man. Dziekanski, a Polish immigrant on his way into the country, later died.

The writ of summons doesn’t specify what the CBC published or broadcast that was defamatory, but CP reports that Millington “says his reputation has been seriously injured, he has suffered embarrassment and distress, and has been brought into public ridicule.”

CBC did not comment on the lawsuit.

Paul Pritchard, the man who shot a widely viewed amateur video of the incident, was recently awarded a Citizen Journalism Award from Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE).