Two men convicted of killing Malcolm X acquitted | US news

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Two of the three men convicted of killing civil rights activist Malcolm X in 1965 were formally acquitted.

Muhammad Aziz and Khalil Islam were arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1966 after the assassination along with Mujahid Abdel Halim.

All three were members of the Nation of Islam, an African-American Muslim group that embraced black separatism and was led by Malcolm X until he broke with the movement in 1964.

Photo: Mr. Aziz described his conviction as “the result of an essentially corrupt process”. Pic: AP

The human rights activist was murdered on February 21, 1965 at Audubon Hall in New York City, as hundreds gathered to hear him speak.

Inside the auditorium, several men shot and wounded him on stage.

Halim admitted to playing a role in the murder but confirmed that Mr. Aziz and Mr. Islam were not involved, according to the Innocence Project.

Mr. Islam passed away in 2009, but Mr. Aziz, now 83, has continued to fight to clear his record.

Their lawyers said the decision to overturn their convictions followed a 22-month investigation that concluded that authorities withheld evidence that would have helped the defendants.

Mr. Aziz described his conviction as “the result of an intrinsically corrupt process – a process all too familiar” even today.

“I don’t need a court, prosecutors, or paper to tell me I’m innocent,” he said in a statement.

But he said he was relieved that his family, friends and lawyers would see “the truth we all knew, and is officially recognized”.

He called on the criminal justice system to “take responsibility for the immeasurable harm that has been done to me.”

In 2020, a documentary series on Netflix entitled “Who Killed Malcolm X?” It raised enough questions about the case that Manhattan Attorney General Cyrus Vance announced that he would review the men’s convictions.

Photo: Khalil Islam is one of three men sentenced to prison in 1966. Pic: AP

“These guys didn’t get the justice they deserved,” Vance told the New York Times.

Barry Schick, co-founder of Project Innocence, called the case “one of the most blatant miscarriages of justice I’ve ever seen.”

The issues raised in the Netflix series include Mr. Aziz’s argument. He injured his leg and went to the hospital just hours before the assassination. The doctor who treated him had stood in his defense.

“On the day of the murder, which was Sunday morning, I was lying on the sofa with my legs up and I heard it on the radio,” Aziz recalls.

Halim eventually revealed his conspirators in the assassination.

In 1978, he became acquainted with four other men he said were involved.

But a judge at the time rejected a request to overturn the convictions of Mr. Aziz and Mr. Islam, according to the acquittal project.

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