Author Salman Rushdie testifies at terror trial of man who tried to kill him
- Salman Rushdie testified at the federal trial of Hadi Matar, the man who attacked him with a knife in New York in 2022, leaving Rushdie blind in one eye.
- Hadi Matar, sentenced last year to 25 years for attempted murder, faces additional federal terrorism charges related to a fatwa issued by Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989 against Rushdie’s book "The Satanic Verses."
- Prosecutors allege Matar supported Hezbollah and was motivated by the fatwa, while Matar’s defense denies any terrorist affiliation despite his anger over Rushdie’s novel.
- Rushdie described the attack in court, which happened as he was about to speak at a free-speech event, and faces the possibility of Matar receiving a life sentence if convicted.
NEW YORK — Novelist Salman Rushdie on Thursday testified at the federal trial of the man who tried to kill him with a knife at a New York cultural center in 2022.
Hadi Matar, a 28-year-old Lebanese-American, was sentenced last year to 25 years in prison by New York state’s justice system for the attempted murder, which left Rushdie blind in one eye.
He is now standing trial on terrorism charges before a federal court in Buffalo, in northwestern New York.
Prosecutors allege that Matar was motivated by a fatwa that Ayatollah Khomeini, then leader of Iran, issued in 1989 following Rushdie’s depiction of a fictionalized Prophet Muhammad in his novel “The Satanic Verses.”
They also accuse Matar of supporting Hezbollah, the pro-Iranian Lebanese terrorist movement, as investigators found materials from the organization at his home.
Asked Thursday if he believed Matar was motivated to carry out the fatwa, Rushdie replied: “I had no knowledge of that. I have my suspicions,” according to U.S. media.
Rushdie lived in seclusion in London for a decade after the 1989 fatwa, but for the past 20 years — until the attack — he lived relatively normally in New York.
He spoke in court for nearly an hour about the assault that saw Matar stab him about 10 times with a six-inch blade as Rushdie was about to address a free-speech conference.
Matar’s defense lawyers said he never acted on behalf of any terrorist organization, even if he was angry about the blasphemous nature of “The Satanic Verses.”
If convicted, he faces a possible sentence of life in prison.