Justice suspects the man who stabbed writer Salman Rushdie of assault and attempted manslaughter. On the basis of those suspicions, he has been taken into pre-trial detention, the Public Prosecution Service in the American town of Chautauqua announced on Saturday, according to international news agencies. The 24-year-old suspect, from New Jersey, was arrested shortly after the incident on Friday.
Also read: Can the fatwa against Rushdie be lifted? And five other questions
Rushdie was stabbed during an event in Chautauqua. The British-Indian author has been taken to hospital, where he is on a ventilator. He’s probably losing an eye. According to his literary agent, Rushdie’s liver was also damaged and the nerves in his arm were severed. The suspect’s motive has not yet been released. He probably acted alone.
The 75-year-old writer has been fearing for his life for some time after he published the book in 1988 The Devil’s Verses published. In it, critics say he described the prophet Mohammed in a blasphemous manner. The book sparked harsh criticism and death threats from conservative Muslim extremists. In Iran and other Islamic countries the work is prohibited.
Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, calling on the radio to kill Rushdie and others involved in the book. The Islamic legal decree has since been lifted by the Iranian government, but the writer continued to receive death threats. The translator of the Japanese version of The Devil’s Verses was murdered and a Norwegian publisher of the book was also injured in an attack.
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The attack on Rushdie has provoked a lot of reactions internationally. Prime Minister Mark Rutte (VVD) called it “terrible”. Rutte said he was “shocked”, just like British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. His Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau spoke of a “cowardly attack” on freedom of expression.
The Iranian media reacted positively to the stabbing. According to Reuters news agency, the newspaper praised Kayhan, whose editor-in-chief has been appointed by Khomeini’s successor, the deed. „A thousand bravos […] for the brave and dutiful person who attacked the renegade and evil Salman Rushdie in New York […] We must kiss the hand of the man who tore open the neck of God’s enemy,” the newspaper said.