Solak Defends Use of Taser against Man Who Died after Police Intervention

Bratislava, November 18 (TASR) - Police chief Lubomir Solak on Monday addressed an incident during which a man tasered by the police fell unconscious and subsequently died at the weekend, claiming that the police officers acted correctly. The police chief said that upon arrival at the scene, the patrol repeatedly asked the man, who threatened others with an axe in his hands, to desist from the unlawful conduct, which the man ignored. The patrol therefore tasered, pacified and handcuffed him. "So far, there is no indication that the facts happened differently from what the officers described in their records," said Solak, adding that expert opinions will show whether the use of the taser was causally related to the man's death. Solak explained that the police have been using the taser since 2021, stressing that it's a non-lethal device. "It causes incomparably less harm than a firearm. In this case, the police did the right thing, they used the device in question in an inhabited area, and the use of the device was certainly better than the use of a gun," he remarked. The Interior Ministry's Inspectorate has started probing the case, treating it as manslaughter. zel/mcs