Salman Rushdie Recalls Lying in ‘Enormous Pool of Blood’ After Stage Attack
New York–Author Salman Rushdie gave a graphic account Thursday of the 2022 attack that left him blind in one eye, telling jurors at the federal terrorism trial of his assailant that he was left lying in a large pool of blood onstage.
“It was an enormous and expansive lake of blood,” Rushdie testified during the trial of Hadi Matar.
Rushdie described being knocked to the floor as Matar repeatedly stabbed him during a literary event at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York.
“I was on the stage, lying down, with an enormous pool of blood all around me,” he said.
“I tried to get away, but he was on top of me, stabbing away,” Rushdie added.
Matar was convicted in New York state court of attempting to murder Rushdie and is serving a 25-year prison sentence. He is now on trial in federal court in Buffalo on charges related to transnational terrorism.
Under the U.S. legal system, state and federal authorities can bring separate charges stemming from the same incident. If convicted on the federal charges, Matar could face life in prison.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Lynch told the court Wednesday that Matar, a 28-year-old U.S. citizen of Lebanese descent, attacked Rushdie in an effort to carry out a fatwa issued by Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989.
The fatwa called for Rushdie’s death after his novel “The Satanic Verses” was denounced as blasphemous.
Rushdie, a Booker Prize-winning author, went into hiding under British government protection after the fatwa was issued. He returned to public life about a decade later and now lives in New York City, where he is a university professor.
Rushdie was scheduled to speak about the protection of writers when he was attacked at the Chautauqua Institution, a literary and arts center about 370 miles from New York City.
He later wrote about the attack in his book, “Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder.”
During his testimony, Lynch asked Rushdie to remove the special glasses he wears so jurors could see the damage to his right eye.
Rushdie said the attack also injured his left hand and liver and left him unable to drive.
Federal prosecutors have alleged that Matar attempted to provide material support and resources to Hezbollah between September 2020 and August 2022.
Matar’s attorney, Nathaniel Barone, has argued that his client acted alone as an enraged Muslim and was not acting on behalf of Hezbollah or another organization.
Barone asked Rushdie whether he should have expected an attack by Islamic extremists because of “The Satanic Verses.”
“I don’t believe the book is on trial. Somebody else is on trial,” Rushdie replied. (Source: IANS)
