WESTERN BUREAU – A protest by Haitian refugees at the Montpelier Camp in St James forced the postponement of the funeral for their countryman, Othnel Brezeu, who was shot and killed in Shettlewood, Hanover, in February.

Brezeu, 32, was to have been buried Wednesday, but earlier that morning, the refugees demonstrated at the camp, calling for a wake to be held before he was laid to rest.

It is alleged that the placard-bearing Haitians padlocked the entrance to the camp from as early as 7:00 am and vowed to continue their protest until a decision was made to have a wake for Brezeu.

“The Haitian culture is to have a wake before the funeral,” Mark Joseph, a refugee, told the Observer. “And there was no wake, and no money to have the wake so we decided to protest.”

Brezeu’s bother, Elie, who also lives at the camp, said it would be disrespectful to bury his brother without having a wake.

“He is not a dog, so he shouldn’t be buried that way,” said Elie, who speaks little English.

A strong detachment of police, headed by Deputy Superintendent in charge of Operations for St James Rudolph Taylor, was dispatched to the camp to restore order.

Some of the refugees complained that they were beaten by the polic, however, Taylor denied the charge.

The refugees eventually called off their protest after camp manager Melville Smith assured them the funeral would be postponed to facilitate the staging of the wake.

On Thursday, Paul Saunders, the national co-ordinator for the Jamaican government’s Haitian crisis response, told the Observer that he was very surprised at the refugees’ action.

He maintained that they had been told, weeks ago, that they could have a wake but were advised that the government would not be able to provide financial assistance.

“Apparently they were not satisfied and so they decided to demonstrate,” Saunders said, stressing that the refugees had never been told that they would not be allowed to have a wake.

He added that a decision had been taken to have the funeral next Wednesday, after the refugees promised that they would come up with the money to cover the costs of a wake that has now been scheduled for Tuesday night.

Brezeu hailed from Anse, in the city of D’Hainault, Haiti. He and his employer, 44 year-old mechanic Blondel Richards from Shettlewood, were gunned down seven weeks ago at a garage in that community.

The police are yet to make an arrest in the case.