Salman Rushdie attacker, who stabbed him on stage in New York, sentenced to 25 years in jail

Hadi Matar, the person convicted of stabbing creator Salman Rushdie on a New York lecture stage in 2022, was sentenced to 25 years in jail on Friday. The 27-year-old was discovered responsible of tried homicide and assault by a jury in February. Rushdie, who was left blind in a single eye from the assault, submitted a sufferer impression assertion however didn’t seem in courtroom for the sentencing.

Throughout the trial, the 77-year-old creator testified as the important thing witness, recalling how he felt he was dying when Matar, masked and armed with a knife, attacked him on stage on the Chautauqua Establishment. Rushdie described being stabbed within the head and physique greater than a dozen instances as he was being launched to talk about author security.

Earlier than being sentenced, Matar stood in courtroom sporting white-striped jail clothes and handcuffs, accusing Rushdie of being a “bully” and a “hypocrite” over his stance on free speech. “Salman Rushdie desires to disrespect different folks,” Matar mentioned. “He desires to be a bully, he desires to bully different folks. I do not agree with that.”

Sentencing and prosecution’s stand

Chautauqua County District Legal professional Jason Schmidt, in his plea for the utmost sentence, argued that Matar had meticulously deliberate the assault to inflict most harm on Rushdie, the occasion’s attendees, and the broader group. Matar acquired the utmost 25-year time period for the tried homicide and an extra seven years for wounding a person on stage, although each sentences will run concurrently.

Defence’s push for leniency

Matar’s public defender, Nathaniel Barone, sought a lowered sentence, highlighting Matar’s beforehand clear document and disputing the prosecution’s declare that viewers members needs to be thought of victims.

Upcoming federal trial

Matar now faces a federal trial on terrorism-related fees, together with offering materials help to Hezbollah. Prosecutors say the assault was motivated by a decades-old fatwa issued by Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989 over Rushdie’s novel, “The Satanic Verses,” which some Muslims think about blasphemous. Matar has pleaded not responsible to the federal fees, which embrace offering materials to terrorists and fascinating in terrorism transcending nationwide boundaries.

Rushdie’s restoration

Rushdie, the creator of acclaimed works like “Midnight’s Youngsters” and “Victory Metropolis,” spent 17 days in a Pennsylvania hospital and over three weeks at a New York Metropolis rehabilitation centre following the assault. He detailed his restoration in his 2024 memoir, “Knife.”

(Primarily based on AP inputs)