ONE OF the men who was cleared of killing Malcolm X is suing the US government claiming the FBI hid proof of his innocence.

Muhammad Aziz, now 85, was exonerated in November 2021 and has previously said  “serious miscarriages of justice” led to him being one of three men convicted in 1966 for the murder of the Black civil rights icon. 

The 85-year-old has filed a lawsuit seeking $40 (£32) million in compensation for the “immense and irreparable” damage allegedly caused by US government employees associated with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), according to the lawsuit.

“This is the last chapter in a legal battle that’s gone on for almost 60 years, and holding the federal government accountable for its misconduct would be a fitting end to this saga,” said David B. Shanies, Mr Aziz’s attorney, in a statement to CNN.

Mr Aziz spent 20 years in prison and was convicted of first-degree murder in Malcolm X’s killing and says his imprisonment caused “deep and lasting trauma”.

According to court documents, Mr Aziz was just 26 years old and a US Navy veteran and father of six children at the time of his arrest.

He was released in 1985, when he was 46 years old.

The lawsuit alleged that several FBI officials including former FBI director J Edgar Hoover, was corrupt and presented false evidence in the case, “to divert blame from individuals whom certain FBI employees did not want to see prosecuted for their crimes.”

A second man, Khalil Islam, was also convicted and was later released in 1987.  

Mr Islam died in 2009, but was also cleared of any involvement in the murder in 2021.

Both men, each spent over 20 years in prison for a crime they say they never committed.

A third man, Mujahid Halim was also convicted and sentenced to life in prison. 

Halim has previously testified at a trial that he shot Malcolm X, and insisted Mr Aziz and Mr Islam, had no involvement with the murder.

Manhattan District lawyer Cyrus Vance’s office started a review of the historic case, following an explosive Netflix documentary, Who Killed Malcolm X? which was released in 2020. 

The popular and extensive documentary did not reveal who killed the historic Black leader but it left many questions unanswered and casted doubts over the efficiency of the investigations into the murder. 

Prosecutors said following a lengthy 22-month investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the New York Police Department (NYPD), withheld crucial evidence during the trial of Mr Aziz and the late Mr Islam. 

The prosecutors believe if the evidence had been handed in, it would have resulted in the men’s acquittal.

In 2022, it was announced that the two men would now be paid millions in compensation.

David Shanies, an attorney representing Mr Aziz and Mr Islam, said at the time the city of New York will pay $26m (£20m) settlement for the wrongful convictions and the state of New York will also pay $10m (£8m).

Mr Islam died aged 74 in 2009, before clearing his name, but it was reported his family would receive the pay out on his behalf.  

Malcolm X was murdered on 21 February 1965, as he gave a speech at the Audubon Ballroom in Manhattan, when three men shot him multiple times. 

He was shot 16 times in front of his pregnant wife, Dr Betty Shabazz, and three of their daughters and approximately 400 people.

Malcolm X’s daughters have asked that the murder investigation into the civil rights leader be reopened.