Hadi Matar, who was convicted for his role in the incident, had pleaded not guilty to charges
Author Salman Rushdie shared the details of an attempt to murder him onstage four years ago to a jury in Buffalo federal court, reported The Associated Press.
Rushdie spoke at the terrorism trial of Hadi Matar, who was convicted of attempted murder in the second degree last year by a jury in Mayville, New York last year, on Thursday July 23. This is Rushdie’s second time testifying in court.
Rushdie was attacked in 2022 at the Chautauqua Institution during his introduction as a speaker in a talk about protecting writers from harm. A video captured Matar charging onto the stage.
Rushdie sustained stab wounds to the head, neck, torso and left hand, leaving the author blind in his right eye, damaging his liver, and temporarily paralyzing his hand. Rushdie told the Buffalo jury that he felt what seemed to be a punch under the chin, which was followed by bleeding.
“The knife was a millimeter from my brain,” the author told the jury in a statement published by AP News.
Prosecutors claimed that Matar was executing a 1989 religious ruling, also known as a fatwa, which ordered Rushdie’s death because some Muslims considered his 1988 novel “The Satanic Verses” blasphemous. The fatwa was issued by the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and resulted in Rushdie going into hiding.
Prosecutors pointed to Matar’s writings and communications, which indicated that his actions were spurred by loyalty to the Iranian government and the Hezbollah militant group – designated as a terrorist organization by the US government. Matar’s bedroom in New Jersey, as well as his gadgets, contained photos and material displaying his regard for Hezbollah. Prosecutors indicated that this was grounds for charging Matar with terrorism.
Matar had pleaded not guilty to charges, including the transnational terrorism charge. His lawyers argued that his mindset or intent could not be proven.
While Matar did not testify at the state court trial, defense lawyer Nathaniel Barone indicated that he might at the federal trial.
Since the attack, Rushdie has written a memoir, “Knife,” which centered on the incident. He has also since released a collection of short stories and novellas entitled “The Eleventh Hour.”
“The thing that happens when you get really a close-up look at death — that’s as close as you can get without actually doing the dance of death and heading off to nowhere — it stays with you. There’s a shadow,” Rushdie told The Associated Press in a 2024 statement.
