Muhammad Aziz and Khalil Islam, who died in 2009, were unfairly sentenced to more than twenty years in prison
New York tries to compensate for the “failure of Justice”, as the State Supreme Court called it in 2021, which led to the sentencing of two African-Americans, Muhammad Aziz and Khalil Islam, to more than twenty years in prison for the murder of the American activist Malcolm X in 1965. Back then, both defendants pleaded not guilty, but the conviction went ahead. A year ago they were exonerated and now they will be compensated for the error.
New York City is settling lawsuits brought by Aziz, 84, and the family of Islam, who died in 2009, by agreeing to pay $26 million for wrongful convictions that landed them both decades behind bars. In addition, the State of New York will pay another 10 million. In total, both families will be compensated with 36 million dollars (36.4 million euros).
“We must correct the injustices”
“The tragedy of Malcolm X’s murder was felt around the world and made worse because it led to the conviction and imprisonment of two innocent young black men in the United States,” said his attorney, David Shanies. “This injustice is now recognized and a modest step has been taken to correct it,” he added. Likewise, the lawyer criticized that the “misconduct of the Police and prosecutors causes tremendous damage,” so “we must remain vigilant to identify and correct injustices.”
In November of last year, a Manhattan judge threw out both convictions after prosecutors found new evidence of witness intimidation and suppression of evidence that exonerated Aziz and Islam. Then-District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. apologized for “serious and unacceptable violations of the law and the public trust” by law enforcement.
The New York City Law Department upheld the wrongful conviction, noting that the financial settlement “provides some measure of justice to people who spent decades in prison and bore the stigma of being falsely accused of murdering a leading figure.” iconic”.
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