Ireland faces scrutiny over Congolese man’s death

Irish authorities have agreed to a second postmortem on the body of a Congolese man who died after being restrained by shop security guards on a Dublin street, prompting an outcry and comparisons to the death of George Floyd, reports The Guardian. A forensic pathologist from England is to conduct an independent postmortem this week on Yves Sakila (35), an alleged shoplifter who was pursued and pinned to the ground in the city centre on 15 May. The police force, An Garda Síochána, is investigating. Protesters have held several rallies and on Saturday held a vigil at a department store 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 to be unresponsive. Some of the incident was filmed and shared on social media. Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, the Foreign Minister of the DRC, visited Dublin last week to meet family representatives and Irish officials. The family wanted to understand ‘how such a demonstration of excessive force could happen in broad daylight’ and to ensure that publicity around the case was not short-lived, said Wagner. The Minister met Ireland’s President, Catherine Connolly, the Justice Minister, Jim O’Callaghan, and the Foreign Minister, Helen McEntee. The case has sharpened scrutiny on race relations in Ireland, where some activists and politicians have linked the arrival of immigrants and asylum seekers with a housing shortage and cost of living crisis. Footage shared on social media showed Sakila face down and being restrained, with one man appearing to kneel on his neck. When police arrived they briefly handcuffed Sakila before realising he was unresponsive.

Full report in The Guardian