Trial of Salman Rushdie's Assailant Begins After Two Years

The trial of Hadi Matar, an American-Lebanese citizen accused of attempting to murder Salman Rushdie, began today, Tuesday, February 5, in a court in New York State. Matar is also separately charged by a federal court with terrorism. The federal prosecutor has accused him of carrying out the 2022 attack on Salman Rushdie, the famous American-British author, on behalf of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Matar attacked Rushdie in August 2022 while the author was scheduled to speak about 'freedom in art' at the Chautauqua Institution in a town of the same name in western New York, stabbing the writer multiple times. Four months later, it was announced that the author of 'The Satanic Verses' had lost the vision in one eye and one of his hands was rendered unusable as a result of the attack. Rushdie had been under a death threat for years due to the publication of the novel 'The Satanic Verses'. In a fatwa issued in 1989, Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, called on Muslims worldwide to kill Rushdie. This fatwa, which was also endorsed by Hezbollah and Ahmed Kuftaro, the then Grand Mufti of Syria, affected Rushdie's life for decades. Hadi Matar's attack on Salman Rushdie faced widespread international condemnation, but government-affiliated figures and institutions inside Iran uniformly supported the attack. Mr. Rushdie published a new book titled 'Knife: Reflections After an Attempted Murder' in April last year, recounting the incident of the attack on him in a crowded hall in suburban New York. In 'Knife', Rushdie explained that the attack did not change his view of his famous work, adding, 'I take pride in the things I have done, including The Satanic Verses. If anyone is looking for remorse in this book, they can stop reading right now.' Today, Tuesday, February 5, the selection of the jury for Hadi Matar's trial is set to begin. It is expected that in the coming weeks, during the trial, Salman Rushdie will return to the same county in New York and appear as one of the first witnesses in court. Jason Schmidt, the district attorney, stated after a preliminary hearing that the jury will view a video of the attack along with images and documents, and it is anticipated that approximately 15 witnesses will take the stand during the trial, which is expected to last several weeks. However, according to Mr. Schmidt, the jury is unlikely to hear anything about Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwa. He stated that he does not believe it is necessary to present Matar's possible motive for the murder attempt to convict him. Federal officials in the United States have separately claimed in an indictment that Matar acted under the influence of 'a fatwa calling for Rushdie's murder.' Matar is also set to be tried in a separate court in Buffalo on federal charges including transnational terrorism, financing terrorism, and attempting to provide support to a terrorist organization. Salman Rushdie first gained fame with his book 'Midnight's Children' and received the Booker Prize for this work. This work was also named the best winner of all time at the 25th and 40th Booker ceremonies.