One of the two men unjustly imprisoned for decades for the murder of US civil rights icon Malcolm X is seeking compensation from New York State after his acquittal.
the essentials in brief
- Wrongly convicted man demands at least $ 20 million.
The 83-year-old Muhammad Aziz said on Tuesday that he was seeking at least $ 20 million in his damages claim. Aziz also plans to sue New York City for $ 40 million if an agreement is not reached within 90 days.
More than 55 years after the murder of Malcolm X, a New York judge had invalidated the convictions of Aziz and Khalil Islam, who died in 2009, in November. Both men had been sentenced to life imprisonment in 1966 and were released from prison after around two decades in the mid-1980s.
“Those who are responsible for depriving me of my freedom and depriving my family of a husband, a father and a grandfather should be held accountable,” said Aziz when he announced his lawsuit. His lawyers announced that they would also file claims for damages on behalf of the family of the late Islam.
Malcolm X was shot dead by three assailants on February 21, 1965 while performing in New York. Aziz and Islam protested their innocence and had alibis to show. Nevertheless, you were sentenced to life imprisonment in 1966. A third convict, Mujahid Abdul Halim, confessed to the trial, but said the other two men were innocent.
Aziz was released from prison in 1985. Islam was released in 1987 and died in 2009. Halim, now 80 years old, was released in 2010. The three men belonged to the Nation of Islam black movement, with which Malcolm X had broken.
“I regret that this court cannot reverse the serious legal errors in this case and give you back the many lost years,” New York judge Ellen Biben said in November. “There is no doubt that this case cries out for basic justice.”
New York District Attorney Cyrus Vance, who opened a review of the case, apologized for “decades of injustice.” In the course of a 22-month investigation, it became clear that Aziz and Islam “did not receive a fair trial” after the murder of Malcolm X.
The re-investigation was after the Netflix documentary “Who Killed Malcolm X?” (“Who Killed Malcolm X?”). The documentary argues that Aziz and Islam are innocent and that Halim acted together with four other members of the Nation of Islam in the murder of the civil rights activist.
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