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.
Asked to comment on the case, Matar’s lawyer Barone said, “We’re kind of in the early stages and, quite frankly, in cases like this, I think the important thing to remember is people need to keep an open mind. They need to look at everything. They can’t just assume something happened for why they think something happened.”
A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Friday, he said.
The Satanic Verses drew death threats after it was published in 1988, with many Muslims regarding as blasphemy a dream sequence based on the life of the Prophet Muhammad, among other objections.
Investigators were working to determine whether the assailant, born a decade after The Satanic Verses was published, acted alone.
On Friday, an Associated Press reporter witnessed the attacker confront Rushdie on stage and stab or punch him 10 to 15 times as the author was being introduced. Martin Haskell, a doctor who was among those who rushed to help, described Rushdie’s wounds as “serious but recoverable.”
Event moderator Henry Reese, 73, a co-founder of an organisation that offers residencies to writers facing persecution, was also attacked. Reese suffered a facial injury and was treated and released from a hospital, police said. He and Rushdie had planned to discuss the United States as a refuge for writers and other artists in exile.
Rabbi Charles Savenor was among the roughly 2,500 people in the audience for Rushdie’s appearance.
Salman Rushdie says his life is ‘relatively normal’ 2 weeks before stabbing
The assailant ran on to the platform “and started pounding on Mr Rushdie. At first you’re like, ‘What’s going on?’ And then it became abundantly clear in a few seconds that he was being beaten,” Savenor said. He said the attack lasted about 20 seconds.
Another spectator, Kathleen James, said the attacker was dressed in black, with a black mask.
Amid gasps, spectators were ushered out of the outdoor amphitheatre.
