Two men convicted in the assassination of Malcolm X are set to be cleared after more than half a century, with prosecutors now saying authorities withheld evidence in the civil rights leader's killing, according to a news report.
The New York Times reported this week that Muhammad Aziz and the late Khalil Islam, who spent decades in prison for the crime, were being exonerated after a nearly two-year investigation by their lawyers and the Manhattan district attorney's office. A court date is expected later this week.
"These men did not get the justice that they deserved," District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr told the newspaper.
![Thomas 15X Johnson is booked as the third suspect in the slaying of Malcolm X, in New York, March 3, 1965. Photo / AP](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/EDSFW2BUNKKZFL5GOBEANFSJVQ.jpg?auth=c04b6979ee1a79afc3372f44cf8d53670aa60a4d1e39e899cdccdeaf31f761c7&width=16&height=11&quality=70&smart=true)
One of the civil rights era's most controversial and compelling figures, Malcolm X rose to fame as the Nation of Islam's chief spokesperson, proclaiming the Black Muslim organisation's message at the time: racial separatism as a road to self-actualisation. He famously urged Black people to claim civil rights "by any means necessary".