Salman Rushdie’s Attacker Convicted on Federal Terrorism Charges
New York — The man who stabbed author Salman Rushdie repeatedly during a public appearance in 2022 has been convicted on federal terrorism charges for carrying out the attack in support of Iran and Hezbollah.
A federal jury on Wednesday found Hadi Matar guilty of attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization and acting on behalf of Iran in connection with the attack.
Prosecutors said Matar sought to carry out a fatwa issued in 1989 by the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who called for Rushdie’s death after Islamic clerics condemned the author’s novel “The Satanic Verses” as blasphemous.
The jury also accepted prosecutors’ argument that Matar, a Lebanese American, supported Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant organization based in Lebanon.
Evidence presented during the trial included a photograph of Matar wearing a shirt bearing Hezbollah writing and a propaganda video he created using speeches by Khomeini and a Hezbollah leader.
Matar’s attorney, Nathaniel Barone, did not dispute that his client attacked Rushdie but argued that Matar acted independently and did not coordinate with Iran or Hezbollah. Barone said Matar was motivated by anger over what he viewed as Rushdie’s blasphemy.
Matar, 28, was convicted last year in New York state court of attempted murder and assault and is serving a 25-year prison sentence. The federal prosecution was permitted because state and federal authorities can bring separate charges arising from the same incident under their respective laws.
Matar could receive a sentence of life in prison without parole when he is sentenced in November in federal court in Buffalo.
Rushdie, a Booker Prize-winning author, lived under British government protection for years after the fatwa was issued. He later resumed making public appearances and now lives in New York City, where he has taught at a university.
Rushdie, 79, was attacked while participating in a literary program at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York. He had been scheduled to speak about protections for writers when Matar rushed onto the stage and stabbed him several times.
Testifying during the trial, Rushdie said he found himself in “an enormous and expansive lake of blood” after the attack.
The stabbing left Rushdie blind in his left eye, damaged his left hand and injured his liver. He later chronicled the attack and his recovery in the memoir “Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder.” (Source: IANS)
