 "Hadi Matar, the man who stabbed Salman Rushdie, to be sentenced today in New York")
The man who stabbed author Salman Rushdie during a lecture in New York in 2022 will be sentenced on Friday. Hadi Matar, 27, was found guilty of attempted murder and assault in February.
Prosecutor Jason Schmidt said he will seek the maximum sentence, 25 years in prison for attacking Rushdie and seven years for injuring another man who was on stage. Both sentences will run at the same time since the attacks happened in the same incident.
Rushdie, who lost sight in one eye after being stabbed more than a dozen times, is not expected to attend the sentencing. He had earlier testified, describing how he thought he was dying when the masked attacker stabbed him in the head and body at the Chautauqua Institution, where he was invited to speak about writer safety.
After the attack, Rushdie spent 17 days in a Pennsylvania hospital and over three weeks in a New York rehabilitation centre. He shared his recovery journey in his 2024 memoir, Knife.
Matar will also face a federal trial on terrorism-related charges next. While the first trial focused on the attack itself, the upcoming case will examine his motive.
Authorities said Matar was trying to carry out a decades-old fatwa (a religious edict) calling for Rushdie’s death. He travelled from New Jersey to attack Rushdie, believing the fatwa was still supported by the militant group Hezbollah. The fatwa was originally issued in 1989 by Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after the release of Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses, which some Muslims consider blasphemous.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsMatar pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges, including providing material support to Hezbollah and engaging in terrorism across borders.
Video evidence from the attack shows Matar sneaking up behind Rushdie and stabbing him repeatedly. As the audience screamed, Rushdie tried to stand and fight back, but Matar kept stabbing until bystanders intervened.
Jurors in the first trial took less than two hours to reach a guilty verdict.
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