Hadi Matar, the man responsible for the August 12, 2022 stabbing that left novelist Salman Rushdie partially blinded, was convicted of attempted murder on Friday, Reuters reported.
Matar, 27, was caught on video rushing the stage at the Chautauqua Institution in New York as Rushdie was being introduced for a discussion on protecting writers from harm. Footage of the attack was presented to the jury during the seven-day trial.
Rushdie, now 77, suffered multiple stab wounds to his head, neck, torso, and left hand. The assault resulted in the loss of vision in his right eye and caused significant damage to his liver and intestines, requiring emergency surgery and months of recovery.
During his testimony at the Chautauqua County Court in Mayville, Rushdie calmly recounted the attack, stating he believed he was going to die. He also removed his adapted glasses, which have a blacked-out right lens, to show jurors the extent of his injuries.
Matar was convicted of attempted murder in the second degree, along with assault in the second degree for stabbing Henry Reese, co-founder of Pittsburgh’s City of Asylum—a nonprofit that supports exiled writers. Reese had been onstage with Rushdie, moderating the discussion when the attack occurred.
Matar is scheduled for sentencing on April 23 and faces a maximum prison term of 25 years.
Since 1989, Rushdie has been the target of an Iranian fatwa (religious edict) calling for his murder for allegedly blaspheming Islam and its prophet Mohammed in his book "The Satanic Verses."
In 2012, an Iranian foundation added another $500,000 to the reward for killing Rushdie, raising the total bounty for his death to $3.3 million.
Rushdie spent a decade in hiding after Iran's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued the 1989 fatwa against him for his book.
Although Iran's foreign ministry in 1998 assured Britain that Iran would do nothing to implement the fatwa, current supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in January 2005 reaffirmed that Rushdie was considered an apostate whose murder was authorized under Islam.
Matar said after the stabbing he didn’t think the author would survive and would not specify if he was inspired by the fatwa calling for Rushdie’s death.
Matar did not testify in his own defense. His legal team argued that prosecutors had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he intended to kill Rushdie, contending that he should have faced an assault charge instead of attempted murder.
While Matar has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, he also faces a separate federal trial on terrorism-related charges, having been charged last July of supporting Hezbollah.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)