The sisters of Kirkcaldy man Sheku Bayoh have written to the First Minister to complain about comments made by former justice secretary Kenny MacAskill.
In a strongly worded letter to Nicola Sturgeon, they questioned why Mr MacAskill had spoken out on the case despite the current justice minister saying he could not comment while it was under investigation.
Kadijartu Johnson, Adama Jalloh and Kosna Bayoh have now requested a meeting with Ms Sturgeon to discuss police accountability.
Father-of-two Sheku Bayoh died shortly after being detained by police in a Kirkcaldy street on May 3.
Officers said they had been responding to reports of a man brandishing a knife.
The incident is being investigated by the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (Pirc) but the family and their lawyer Aamer Anwar have been highly critical of both the police and the powers given to Pirc.
Earlier this week, Mr MacAskill accused campaigners and commentators of declaring an “open season of hunting Police Scotland” and creating a “poisonous atmosphere” in which individual officers had been targeted.
His comments were welcomed by Professor Peter Watson, the lawyer for the police officers involved in the case.
Scotland’s top prosecutor, Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland, has called for restraint from all sides.
Amid accusations that Professor Watson and Mr MacAskill were attempting to divert attention from how Sheku Bayoh died, his sisters described the former justice secretary’s comments as “brutal and barbaric”.
“It gives us no hope of truth and justice in Scotland,” they said.
In their letter to Nicola Sturgeon, they said: “The recent statements from the former justice secretary make us wonder why the current justice secretary has said that he cannot comment because the case is under investigation.
“Why did Mr MacAskill decide to speak and give a clear judgment of the case without being privy to the CCTV or any of the actual evidence?”
They also accused Mr MacAskill of attacking their family lawyer, adding: “Please note that he is our lawyer and acts on our instructions.
“It would be better if Mr MacAskill concentrated on the police if they have nothing to hide then they should have had the decency to reveal the truth on the first day, rather than hiding away for 32 days.”