Four years after the attack that nearly killed him, author Salman Rushdie testified Thursday in the federal terrorism trial of his alleged assailant, Hadi Matar. Rushdie, 79, described for jurors the ambush on a stage in western New York, recounting how he initially felt what he thought was a punch but soon realized he was being stabbed.
“Then I was on the stage, lying down, with an enormous pool of blood all around me,” Rushdie testified. He described the wounds as dispersed across his body and later showed the jury his unseeing right eye.
Matar, 28, has pleaded not guilty to charges including engaging in an act of transnational terrorism. He was convicted of a state-level attempted murder charge in the 2022 attack. Federal prosecutors contend Matar was motivated by a 1989 Iranian fatwa calling for Rushdie’s death due to his novel “The Satanic Verses."
Rushdie's testimony, which lasted a little over an hour, detailed the lasting injuries from the stabbing, including blindness in one eye, liver damage, and severed nerves in his arm. He also spoke about his subsequent recovery and relearning daily tasks. Rushdie had previously described the attack and his recovery in Matar’s earlier state trial, in his memoir, and in interviews.
Matar's defense attorneys have argued that prosecutors cannot prove his intent or mindset at the time of the attack, which they claim is essential to proving a terrorism motive linked to Iran’s government and the militant group Hezbollah. When questioned by Matar’s lawyer, Rushdie stated he had no direct knowledge of the defendant's ties to terrorism but acknowledged having suspicions.
Prosecutors allege Matar was influenced by past comments from Hezbollah’s late leader, Hassan Nasrallah, regarding Rushdie and the fatwa. Evidence presented by the prosecution includes material from Matar’s New Jersey bedroom and electronics, such as photos and a fake driver’s license bearing a name similar to that of a Hezbollah figure. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Lynch stated in an opening statement that Matar researched Rushdie starting in 2020 and wrote about needing to kill him, viewing the act as part of a holy war.
Matar, who holds Lebanese citizenship and whose mother indicated a trip to Lebanon in 2018 left him withdrawn, faces a potential life sentence if convicted in the federal case. He is currently serving a 25-year sentence for the state conviction. Matar declined to testify at his state trial, but his lawyer indicated he might testify in the federal proceedings.
Salman Rushdie, born in India and raised in Britain, is a U.S. citizen and a winner of the Booker Prize for his 1981 novel “Midnight’s Children.” Iran’s government has denied involvement in the 2022 attack, though a Foreign Ministry spokesperson suggested Rushdie had invited trouble by insulting Islam.