Suspect in attack on author Salman Rushdie sentenced to 25 years in prison

The antheral who stabbed writer Salman Rushdie, leaving him unsighted successful 1 eye, has been sentenced to 25 years successful prison, the maximum word imaginable successful the case.

Friday’s sentencing proceeding was the culmination of a relatively swift trial that began connected February 4.

There was small ambiguity astir the cardinal events underlying the case: In August 2022, a 24-year-old named Hadi Matar rushed the signifier of an amphitheatre wherever Rushdie was delivering a nationalist lecture for New York’s Chautauqua Institution.

Matar stabbed Rushdie astir 15 times, delivering cuts to his neck, assemblage and head. After being airlifted to a hospital, Rushdie yet mislaid show successful 1 eye. Another talker — Henry Reese, who runs a nonprofit for writers successful exile — besides received injuries, including a stab wound.

Rushdie, present 77, testified successful the state-level proceedings against Matar. “He was hitting maine repeatedly. Hitting and slashing,” the novelist said.

He added that helium thought astatine archetypal helium was being struck by fists, not a knife. It was lone aboriginal that helium realised the severity of his situation: “I saw a ample quantity of humor pouring onto my clothes.”

The injuries resulted successful Rushdie undergoing achy surgeries, including to seal his blinded eye. He spent months successful recovery. “I’m not arsenic energetic arsenic I utilized to be. I’m not arsenic physically beardown arsenic I utilized to be,” helium told the court.

On February 21, aft little than 2 hours of deliberation, a assemblage successful occidental New York recovered Matar some guilty of attempted murder for his onslaught connected Rushdie and of battle for the injuries to Reese.

In Friday’s hearing, Matar received 25 years for the attempted execution condemnation and 7 for the battle connected Reese, to beryllium served astatine the aforesaid clip since the attacks happened astatine the aforesaid time.

Rushdie, a British American novelist, was calved successful India to a Muslim family. His books person won wide acclaim: His caller Midnight’s Children earned the Booker Prize, a apical literate honour awarded each twelvemonth to a enactment of English-language fiction.

But it was his 4th novel, The Satanic Verses, successful 1988 that stirred up lasting controversy, specifically for passages deemed blasphemous to Muslims. By 1989, Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie’s death.

The announcement sent Rushdie into hiding, and the British authorities assigned him round-the-clock protection. Deadly protests accompanied the novel’s publication, and bookstores, on with those adjacent to Rushdie, faced convulsive attacks.

Before Friday’s sentencing, Matar besides delivered a connection to the tribunal voicing his absorption to Rushdie and his work.

“Salman Rushdie wants to disrespect different people,” said Matar. “He wants to beryllium a bully, helium wants to bully different people. I don’t hold with that.”

Later, extracurricular the courtroom, defence lawyer Nathaniel Barone took questions astir whether his lawsuit felt regret oregon remorse astir his actions.

“ I deliberation that’s a just question, and I can’t reply that,” helium responded. “All I tin archer you is that I deliberation that, unfortunately, radical marque atrocious decisions, and it’s thing that surely they regret oregon they’re remorseful about, but they whitethorn person a hard clip expressing that for immoderate reasons.”

Barone added that helium felt Matar would person acted otherwise successful hindsight. “ I know, if helium had the opportunity, helium would not beryllium sitting wherever helium is sitting today. And if helium could alteration things, helium would.”

Public defender Nathaniel Barone speaks to the media extracurricular Chautauqua County tribunal connected May 16 [Adrian Kraus/AP Photo]

Matar’s defence squad had sought a lesser condemnation of 12 years successful situation and plans to entreaty the verdict, arguing that the prosecution did not beryllium beyond a tenable uncertainty an intent to termination Rushdie.

Barone besides questioned the aggravated level of scrutiny connected the case, calling it a “publicity sponge”. He argued that his lawsuit was denied the presumption of innocence owed to immoderate suspect.

The prosecution, however, praised the sentencing hearing’s result arsenic justness for the symptom Rushdie continues to endure.

“He’s traumatised. He has nightmares astir what helium experienced,” Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt said aft the hearing.

“Obviously, this is simply a large setback for an idiosyncratic that was starting to look successful his precise aboriginal years of beingness into nine aft going into hiding aft the fatwa.”

In explaining to the justice wherefore helium was pushing for the maximum sentence, Schmidt said that Matar “designed this onslaught truthful that helium could inflict the astir magnitude of damage, not conscionable upon Mr. Rushdie, but upon this community, upon the 1,400 radical who were determination to ticker it”.

Separately, Matar, present 27, faces 3 counts of national terrorism-related charges successful the US, including providing worldly enactment to terrorists and committing coercion that transcends nationalist boundaries.

“We allege that, successful attempting to execution Salman Rushdie successful New York successful 2022, Hadi Matar committed an enactment of coercion successful the sanction of Hezbollah, a designated violent enactment aligned with the Iranian regime,” erstwhile US Attorney General Merrick Garland said successful a statement. Iran, however, has denied engagement successful Matar’s onslaught connected Rushdie.

Rushdie, meanwhile, has channelled his experiences from the onslaught into a memoir called Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder.