More than half a century after the assassination of black US civil rights activist Malcolm X, the wrongly convicted Muhammad Aziz is suing the city of New York for millions of dollars in damages. The 84-year-old’s attorneys filed a lawsuit in federal court on Thursday, court documents show. According to media reports, Aziz is asking for 40 million dollars (almost 40 million euros). The litigation may drag on for years.
Contradictory testimonies
Malcolm X was shot dead in New York in February 1965 at the age of 40. Aziz was convicted along with others and released from prison in 1985 after serving 20 years. The guilty verdicts against him and another convict, Khalil Islam, were only overturned in November 2021 – 55 years after the verdict. The two men were exonerated because of conflicting testimonies and lack of evidence at the original trial.
Islam had also spent 20 years in prison. He died in 2009. A third convict, who confessed to the murder, remained guilty. Immediately after the verdicts against Aziz and Islam were overturned, talks about the amount of compensation broke down, reports the New York Times. New York’s current Mayor Eric Adams announced that he would examine the lawsuit. “As someone who has campaigned throughout his career for a fairer criminal justice system, I believe that the overturning of the convictions of Mr. Aziz and Mr. Islam was a just result.”
Aziz was 26 at the time of his sentencing and the father of six young children. The damage caused to Aziz and his family by the verdict is immense and irreparable, court documents said. He spent the prime of his life behind bars.
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