Death of Congolese man renews scrutiny of race relations in Ireland | Ireland
Irish authorities have agreed to a second autopsy on the body of a Congolese man who died after being restrained by shop security guards on a Dublin street, sparking protests and comparisons to the death of George Floyd.
A forensic pathologist from England will this week conduct an independent autopsy on 35-year-old Yves Sakila, an alleged thief who was chased and pinned to the ground in the city center on May 15. The police force, An Garda Síochána, is continuing to investigate.
Protesters held several rallies and held a picket on Henry Street near Arnotts, a department store, on Saturday where Sakila allegedly stole a bottle of perfume, leading to a chase outside; where security guards detained him for about five minutes until police arrived and found him unresponsive. Part of the incident was filmed and shared on social media.
Democratic Republic of Congo foreign minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner visited Dublin last week to meet with family representatives and Irish officials.
Sakila’s relatives traumatized and ‘stunned’, minister says he told RTÉ. “But they have also shown tremendous courage, calm and of course patience and confidence in the Irish authorities that justice will be done and light will be shed on the circumstances surrounding Mr Sakila’s untimely death.”
Wagner said the family wanted to understand “how such an excessive display of force could happen in broad daylight” and make sure publicity about the case wasn’t short-lived.
The minister met with Irish president Catherine Connolly, justice secretary Jim O’Callaghan and foreign secretary Helen McEntee. “The meetings I had in Dublin were very productive, constructive and encouraging,” he said.
The case has sharpened scrutiny on race relations in Ireland, where some activists and politicians have linked the arrival of immigrants and refugees to a housing shortage and a cost-of-living crisis.
Bertie Ahern, a former taoiseach, was recorded secretly saying earlier this month – before Sakila’s death -: “The people I’m worried about are the Africans. We can’t accept people from the Congo and all these places.”
Banners at the vigil for Sakila referenced the Black Lives Matter movement, which spread across the US after a Minneapolis police officer was filmed kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes, cutting off Floyd’s oxygen supply. Officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murder.
Sakila, who has been living in Ireland since 2004, was reportedly convicted of theft and living in a homeless shelter. During the chase, an old man fell to the ground and broke his hip.
Footage shared on social media shows Sakila face down and being restrained, with a man kneeling on her neck. When police arrived, they briefly handcuffed Sakila before noticing she was unresponsive and took her to Mater hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The family’s lawyer, John Gerard Cullen, told reporters that the autopsy was inconclusive and a second autopsy should be performed. “There are a lot of unanswered questions,” he said. He sent 41 questions to gardaí. David Rouse, a pathologist at Forensic Health Services in Essex, will carry out the second autopsy.
