Hadi Matar, who teased an attack on the writer Salman Rushdie in August 2022 by attacking him with fifteen knife stitches, was found guilty of attempted murder. In a trial that had started on 10 February, the jury not only guilty of an attempted murder of Rushdie, but also guilty of the attack on Henry Reese, the man who interviewed Rushdie at the time of the attack. Since the attack, Rushdie is blind to one eye and he can no longer use one of his hands.
Matar did not say anything during the entire process, but he called according to The New York Times When entering and leaving the courtroom ‘Free Palestine’. Matar’s lawyers did not call witnesses, so that the motivation for his act was not discussed from Matar. He did, however, gave an interview to the New York Post In which he stated that as far as he is concerned, Rushdie was not a “good person”: “I don’t like him. He is someone who has attacked Islam ”. He also said in that interview that he was surprised that the writer had survived the attack.
Matar’s attack was the second on Rushdie, whose life since 1989 has been dominated by the Fatwa that the Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini pronounced in that year. The reason for Khomeini’s call to kill Rushdie was the novel The Devil’s Verses (The Satanic Verses1988), who would be blasphemic. Since that ban curse of the then Iranian leader, 59 people have died, both in violent demonstrations The Devil’s Verses As well as by murder attacks on translators and publishers of the novel. Rushdie has since been living under strict security, which in recent years, after he had moved to the United States, has become a little less strict. After years in safe houses Rushdie could occasionally be interviewed again in public.
Witness rushdie
A day after the start of the trial, Rushdie witnessed on 11 February itself. He said that the pain had been immense, especially the knife stitch in his eye, and that he had had the feeling of bleeding dead. He also remembered the eyes of the attacker: “I was struck by his eyes. They were dark and fierce. ”
Rushdie pointed out where he had been stabbed, showed the deteriorated movement of his left hand and took off the glasses – one of which was taped – so that the jury could see what was left of the eye. “During the attack I noticed how much blood flowed and I was convinced that I would die.” Since the attack he has less energy and he is less strong physically, said Rushdie.
NRC Rushdie told about the attack: “If you get so close to death, you really have such a close introduction to the death that is right in front of you, then that experience does not disappear, even if you recover. There is a kind of shade hanging over you, and I have to learn to live with that. We all know that we are dying, but I really had a very unpleasant preview in close-up. ”
The defense of Matar asked Rushdie if he might not remember everything well because of the traumatic event. Rushdie ‘Knowing’ that he did have some memories that were not right, such as: “When I Saw The Attacker, I Stood Up To Face Him. ”
The defense also argued that it is not to prove that Matar intended to kill Rushdie because he had not put the author into the heart and lungs. This claim was refuted by doctors who explained that if you learn 15 times on someone, there is a good chance that he will not survive.
No eye contact
Matar did not have any eye contact with Rushdie during the entire process, and he also underwent the verdict with a bent head. The ‘conversation’ between the two therefore remains with the four fictional conversations that Rushdie had in his head and included in the memoirs Knife whom he wrote about the attack. Matar is also a man of few words in those memoirs, but at one point he explains how he sees Rushdie: “You are hated by two billion people. That is all you need to know. You have to feel a worm. To be flattened under our heel. “
On April 23, it will be determined how high the punishment will be. According to The New York Times Can Matar get a 32 -year prison sentence, and he has also been charged with terrorism.