The family of a man who died in police custody remain “full of rage” as they search for the truth about his death, their lawyer has said.
Sheku Bayoh died in May 2015 after being restrained by officers who were responding to a call in Kirkcaldy, Fife.
The gas engineer’s family have claimed race played a part in his death and criticised the subsequent investigation.
A public inquiry, chaired by Lord Bracadale, is examining events surrounding the death of the 31-year-old, and will begin evidential hearings in May.
Lawyer Aamer Anwar, who represents the Bayoh family, said they have remained “dignified but full of rage” over the past few years.
Speaking in a video address to the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) conference in Aberdeen, he said: “They are not asking for anything special, just the truth, because without truth there can be no justice.
“Last year, thousands marched for George Floyd, social media was awash with Black Lives Matter. Well what the family are saying is black lives matter in Scotland too.”
Mr Anwar said families should never have to rely on their own efforts to make sure the full facts about deaths in police custody are established and that those responsible are held to account.
However he said Mr Bayoh’s mother Aminata does not want her son to be remembered simply as someone who died following a struggle with police, but as a “wonderful” and “loving” man.
He told the conference: “She says she wants people to think of her only son not as a man who died following a struggle with the police, she wants people to remember him as a bright young man who any parent would have been proud of.
“He was a wonderful son, a wonderful brother, an uncle, a loving partner to Collette and a loving father to two young boys who will now grow up without a father.
“Sadly he is not by any means the first man to die in police custody, but if anything I hope that Sheku’s name does not fade from memory, that one day the name of Sheku leaves us a legacy that his children can be proud of.
“The dead cannot cry out for justice but it is the duty of the living to do so for them.”
