Mother of Yves Sakila expected to address protest outside Leinster House

Yves Sakila. Photo: Facebook

The mother of a Congolese man who died after he was restrained following an alleged shoplifting incident in Dublin last Friday, is expected to address demonstrators outside Leinster House tomorrow as the family continues to seek answers surrounding his death.

Yves Sakila was detained for a number of minutes by security guards in Dublin city centre. He was pronounced dead at the Mater hospital later.

Laure Zoya, vice-president of the Congolese community in Ireland, said Yves Sakila’s mother, Angel, is “heartbroken, overwhelmed and still in shock” following the tragic death of her son.

Ms Zoya who is friends with the family said Mr Sakila’s mother is struggling to come to terms with the tragedy.

“She is determined to establish exactly what happened in the moments before he became unresponsive but she is very overwhelmed right now,” she said.

“She is going to address the protest at the Dáil on Thursday. She has been living here since 1991 and her son Yves came here in 2004. She has other children too.

“Yves's father is in Belgium. She wants to be very clear that this is not a race issue, this is a death on the street and like any family, they want to know what happened."

She said the family has also confirmed it is prepared to commission a second, private autopsy if they are not satisfied with the findings of the initial post-mortem examination.

A vigil was held outside Arnotts on Tuesday evening calling for justice and transparency into his death.

Ms Zoya told the Irish Examiner there are still “many unanswered questions” surrounding Yves’s death and said the family “cannot bury him until justice is done”.

She confirmed a press conference is due to take place outside the Dáil at 11am tomorrow, followed by a protest and rally between 1pm and 3pm.

Organisers have also requested CCTV footage from Henry Street in an effort to gain a clearer understanding of the incident.

Community representatives stressed the protest is not aligned with any political movement or campaign group.

“My partner is Irish and we have a child, how can this be about Ireland and race?” she said. “We are living in Cork and we love this country and the people here are good, Angel has been here since 1991, this is our home, it is a normal thing to ask for an investigation and to get the truth of what happened.

“We wanted to make clear that the demonstrations are not about Black Lives Matter or any far-right group, but instead about a human being who died on the streets of Dublin and a family seeking answers."

Mr Sakila was filmed by crowds during the incident outside Arnotts. Witness footage circulating online shows him being restrained on the ground for several minutes.

He was later taken to the Mater Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. During the incident, a man in his 80s was also injured as Yves Sakila allegedly attempted to flee the scene.

“We encourage everyone not to watch the video, it is so distressing,” said Ms Zoya.

The incident has prompted widespread concern and political reaction. Labour leader Ivana Bacik raised the matter in the Dáil, while Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan said a “thorough Garda investigation” is underway. Taoiseach Micheál Martin also expressed condolences to Yves Sakila’s family and said the case must be fully investigated.

Department store Arnotts said it is “deeply saddened” by Mr Sakila’s death and extended sympathies to his family, friends and the wider Congolese community in Ireland.

Gardai said the results of a post mortem examination would assist in determining the course of their investigation and that the incident was reported to Fiosrú, the office of the police ombudsman.