Muhammad Aziz.Photo: BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP via Getty
A man exonerated in the murder of civil rights leader Malcolm X is suing the city of New York and former law enforcement for $40 million, according to multiple reports.
According toABC News, 84-year-old Muhammad Aziz is suing on the grounds of malicious prosecution, denial of due process rights and government misconduct.
Aziz — who was 26 years old and a father of six at the time of Malcolm X’s assassination — served 20 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of the crime, which took place at the Audubon Ballroom in N.Y.C. in 1965 when Malcolm X was moments away from giving a speech. Aziz’s co-defendant, Khalil Islam, also spent 22 years behind bars for the crime he did not commit.
Islam died in 2009 at the age of 79, but the pair were cleared of Malcolm X’s murder in November 2021, following a two-year long reinvestigation into the case.
AP/Shutterstock; Harvey Lippman/AP/Shutterstock
On Thursday, attorneys for Aziz filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn seeking monetary compensation, 55 years after the murder took place,The Washington Postreports.
Shanies, who also represents Islam’s estate, told ABC News the two men were “imprisoned for decades — 42 years between them — as the result of outrageous government misconduct and violations of their constitutional rights.”
AP/Shutterstock
“Justice delayed for far too long is justice denied. Mr. Aziz just turned 84 and Mr. Islam tragically died before seeing his name cleared.”
“These men and their families should not be delayed compensation for the gross injustices they suffered,” Shanies said.
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A third man convicted in the slaying, Mujahid Abdul Halim, admitted to his role in the crime, and backed up Aziz and Islam’s assertions of innocence.
source: people.com
