Hadi Matar, the man who stabbed India-born British and American novelist Salman Rushdie, has been convicted of attempted murder by a jury in New York and faces up to 32 years in prison, along with federal terrorism-related charges.
Jurors delivered the verdict after deliberating for less than two hours, also finding Hadi Matar, 27, guilty of attacking Ralph Henry Reese, who was on the Chautauqua Institution stage with Rushdie at the time.
Hadi Matar is set to be sentenced on April 23.
The verdict in the court in Mayville, New York, came after Salman Rushdie himself testified about the traumatic event, describing the dark, ferocious eyes of his attacker, and how he realised he wasn't being stabbed after seeing a large amount of blood pour out of his clothes.
Hadi Matar admitted that he did not think Salman Rushdie would survive the attack. "When I heard he survived, I was surprised, I guess," said Matar, as quoted by the New York Post.
{{/usCountry}}Hadi Matar admitted that he did not think Salman Rushdie would survive the attack. "When I heard he survived, I was surprised, I guess," said Matar, as quoted by the New York Post.
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During the court proceedings, Hadi Matar was asked if he had been inspired to stab Salman Rushdie by the late Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini, a leader he had previously admitted to admiring, and who had issued a fatwa against Salman Rushdie's 1988 novel ‘The Satanic Verses’.
"I respect the Ayatollah. I think he's a great person. That's as far as I will say about that," Matar said.
About the stabbing being related to ‘The Satanic Verses’, Rushdie's controversial novel, he said, “I read a couple of pages. I didn't read the whole thing cover to cover."
Rushdie had been issued death threats after the release of ‘The Satanic Verses’, sparking outrage among many Muslims, who considered the book to be blasphemous. After Khomeini called for Rushdie's death, the author spent 10 years under British protection.
Salam Rushdie stabbed
On August 12, 2022, ahead of a scheduled talk at the Chautauqua Institution, Hadi Matar, donning dark clothes and a face mask, went on stage and repeatedly stabbed Salman Rushdie.
Rushdie suffered three stab wounds to his neck, four to his stomach, puncture wounds to his right eye and chest, and a cut on his right thigh. The author was also blinded in one eye, and the use of one of his hands was permanently affected.
He was rushed to a hospital in northwestern Pennsylvania and underwent surgery after the attack. The attempted murder also caused damage to his liver and severed nerves in his arm as well as his eye.