Salman Rushdie attack suspect pleads not guilty to attempted murder and assault charges
- Hadi Matar is accused of attacking Rushdie on Friday as the author was being introduced at a lecture at the Chautauqua Institute in New York state
- Rushdie, 75, suffered a damaged liver, severed nerves in an arm and an eye his agent said on Friday
The man accused of carrying out a stabbing attack against Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie has entered a not-guilty plea in a New York court on charges of attempted murder and assault.
A lawyer for Hadi Matar, 24, entered the plea on his behalf during an arraignment hearing. Matar appeared in court wearing a black-and-white jumpsuit and a white face mask. His hands were cuffed in front of him.
Matar is accused of attacking Rushdie on Friday as the author was being introduced at a lecture at the Chautauqua Institute in New York state.
Rushdie, 75, suffered a damaged liver, severed nerves in an arm and an eye, his agent Andrew Wylie said on Friday evening. Rushdie was likely to lose the injured eye.
Police said on Friday they had not established a motive for the attack.
An initial police review of Matar’s social media accounts showed he was sympathetic to Shiite extremism and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), although no definitive links had been found, according to NBC New York.
The IRGC is a powerful faction that controls a business empire as well as elite armed and intelligence forces that Washington accuses of carrying out a global extremist campaign.
