US to exonerate two men convicted of killing Malcolm X after decades
Two of the three men found guilty of the assassination of prominent US civil rights leader Malcolm X decades ago, are now expected to be exonerate, in a decision that critics say indicates the failure of US justice system.
The Manhattan district attorney's office acknowledged on Wednesday “the wrongful convictions" of Muhammad A. Aziz and Khalil Islam, who each spent more than 20 years in prison.
The District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. told the New York Times that the FBI and police had withheld evidence that would have likely resulted in their acquittal.
He apologized on behalf of law enforcement, which he said had failed the families of the two men.
"This points to the truth that law enforcement over history has often failed to live up to its responsibilities," Vance told the Times, admitting that the two men “did not get the justice that they deserved."
Aziz, 83, was released in 1985. Islam was released in 1987 and died in 2009 at age 74.
A lawyer for the men Deborah Francois told the Times that their conviction “wasn’t a mere oversight. This was a product of extreme and gross official misconduct.”
Aziz, Islam and a third man, Mujahid Abdul Halim were convicted of murder in March 1966 and sentenced to life in prison.
Halim, who had confessed on the witness stand to taking part in the assassination, hailed the two men’s exoneration.
Malcolm X, an outspoken Muslim advocate of Black rights, was 39 when he was gunned down, as he was prepared to give a speech at a theater in New York City, on February 21, 1965.
Earlier this year, new evidence emerged suggesting that the New York Police Department and the FBI had been behind the assassination.
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