Day: December 17, 2021
Michael Novakhov retweeted:
On this day in 1939, the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee – heavily damaged after the Battle of the River Plate – is scuttled off Montevideo, Uruguay. The captain, Hans Langsdorff, destroys his vessel rather than surrender it to the Allies. He later shoots himself.
Michael_Novakhov shared this story from Yahoo News – Latest News & Headlines. |
b’
A Black man wrongly convicted of murdering Malcolm X is suing New York state for $20 million.
Muhammed Aziz, now 83, spent 20 years behind bars on a first-degree murder charge in Malcolm Xxe2x80x99s death. He was convicted alongside two other men, Mujahid Halim and Khalil Islam, in 1966.
Aziz was released in 1985. Islam was released in 1987 and died in 2009.
xe2x80x9cAs a result of his wrongful conviction and imprisonment, Mr. Aziz spent 20 years in prison for a crime he did not commit and more than 55 years living with the hardship and indignity attendant to being unjustly branded as a convicted murderer of one of the most important civil rights leaders in history,xe2x80x9d the lawsuit filed Tuesday reads.
Halim testified during the trial that he shot Malcom X and that neither of the two other men had anything to do with it. He was released in 2010.
Malcolm X was killed on Feb. 21, 1965, while addressing his Organization of Afro-American Unity at the Audubon Ballroom in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New Yorkxe2x80x99s Manhattan borough.
New York County Supreme Court administrative judge Ellen Biben granted a motion to vacate Azizxe2x80x99s conviction in November. The judge also vacated Islamxe2x80x99s conviction.
xe2x80x9cI regret that this court cannot fully undo the serious miscarriages of justice in this case and give you back the many years that were lost,xe2x80x9d Biben said in the ruling.
The Manhattan District Attorneyxe2x80x99s Office and the Innocence Project jointly re-investigated Malcolm Xxe2x80x99s murder and uncovered FBI and NYPD documents that had been hidden from the prosecution and the defense.
The district attorneys office launched the investigation after a Netflix documentary xe2x80x9cWho Killed Malcolm X?xe2x80x9d raised questions about the murder.
xe2x80x9cThe FBI had eyewitness testimony from presumably the nine informants that were in the room that day about who did the crime,xe2x80x9d the documentaryxe2x80x99s producer Phil Bertelsen told CBS.
xe2x80x9cFull descriptions of the men, and particularly the man who wielded the shotgun. That was information that was not given to the NYPD,xe2x80x9d Bertelsen said.
No physical evidence has ever implicated Aziz or Islam in the murder. Each man also had an alibi that placed them away from the scene of the crime.
xe2x80x9cThe case against them rested solely on highly contradictory and implausible eyewitness testimony,xe2x80x9d according to the Innocence Project.
xe2x80x9cMy wrongful conviction was a terrible injustice that resulted from the deliberate and dishonest actions of corrupt officials,xe2x80x9d Aziz said after his sentence was vacated.
xe2x80x9cIt has caused unspeakable harm to my family and to me. The lost time and relationships with my family and loved ones can never be recovered.xe2x80x9d
Malcolm Xxe2x80x99s 56-year-old daughter Malikah Shabazz was found unconscious by her daughter in their Brooklyn home last month, days after the convictions against Islam and Aziz were vacated. Officials said her death appeared to be of natural causes.
More news from our partners:
Two Friends Left Steady Paychecks, 401(k)s and Bet on Themselves. Today They Run a $1M Business.
‘