The Nobel Academy Condemns Salman Rushdie's Death Fatwa After 27 Years

The Royal Swedish Academy, which awards the Nobel Prize in Literature, has condemned the death fatwa against Salman Rushdie issued by Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, after 27 years of silence. According to Agence France-Presse, Thomas Riadh, the president of the Royal Swedish Academy, stated in a statement on Thursday, April 5, that 'issuing a death sentence for the publication of a literary work is a serious violation of freedom of expression. The independence of literature from political control is of great importance for human civilization and must be defended against the attacks of haters and supporters of censorship.' The Royal Swedish Academy had previously refrained from commenting on the fatwa in 1989, stating that supporting the author would contradict the complete neutrality of the institution. The fatwa was issued by Ruhollah Khomeini because he considered Rushdie's book 'The Satanic Verses' blasphemous. As Salman Rushdie wrote in his memoirs in 2012, 'This fatwa was the first note of a dark music.' Rushdie, a British citizen born into a Muslim family in India, was forced to live in hiding for years following the fatwa. Several translators and publishers of his book were killed or targeted, and the British government placed Rushdie under police protection. Three members of the Royal Swedish Academy criticized the institution's decision and silence regarding the fatwa, deciding not to participate in any of the Academy's activities, although they were not allowed to resign. After new members joined the Academy over the past 30 years and following an increase in the bounty for Rushdie's death, the institution finally decided to take a stance on the fatwa. In February of this year, forty Iranian state media outlets collectively increased the bounty for carrying out the fatwa.