Salman Rushdie’s Attacker Goes on Trial on Federal Terrorism Charges

New York–The man who stabbed author Salman Rushdie during a 2022 literary event, leaving him blind in one eye, went on trial Wednesday in federal court on terrorism-related charges.

Federal prosecutors told the court in Buffalo that Hadi Matar attacked Rushdie to “fulfil the fatwa,” referring to the religious edict issued by Iran’s late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini calling for the author’s death over his novel “The Satanic Verses.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Lynch argued that Matar carried out the attack in response to the fatwa, which was issued after some Muslim clerics denounced the novel as blasphemous.

Matar was convicted last year in New York state court of attempted murder and assault and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. He is now being tried under separate federal laws and could face life in prison if convicted.

State and federal authorities can bring separate charges arising from the same conduct when different laws are involved.

Matar, a U.S. citizen of Lebanese descent, attacked Rushdie onstage at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York in August 2022. Rushdie suffered severe injuries, including the loss of sight in his right eye.

The federal trial is being held in Buffalo, near the Canadian border.

Matar has denied the conspiracy allegations. His attorney, Nathaniel Barone, said Matar acted alone and, as a religious person, was “enraged” by Rushdie.

Khomeini issued the fatwa against Rushdie in 1989 following the publication of “The Satanic Verses.” Rushdie spent years in hiding under British government protection after receiving repeated death threats.

Rushdie now lives in the United States and wears an eyepatch over his right eye. He is expected to testify during the trial.

The Booker Prize-winning author later recounted the attack and his recovery in his memoir, “Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder.”

At the Chautauqua event where he was attacked, Rushdie had been scheduled to speak about protecting writers facing persecution. (Source: IANS)