Salman Rushdie off ventilator and talking a day after attack, agent says
- Agent confirms tweet by fellow author Aatish Taseer that Rushdie is ‘off the ventilator and talking [and joking]’ after attack on Friday
- Man accused of attacking Rushdie has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and assault charges, in what a prosecutor called a ‘pre-planned’ crime
Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses, was taken off a ventilator and able to talk on Saturday, a day after he was stabbed as he prepared to give a lecture in upstate New York.
Rushdie remained hospitalised with serious injuries, but fellow author Aatish Taseer tweeted in the evening that he was “off the ventilator and talking [and joking]”. Rushdie’s agent, Andrew Wylie, confirmed that information without offering further details.
Earlier in the day, the man accused of attacking him on Friday at the Chautauqua Institution, a non-profit education and retreat centre, pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and assault charges in what a prosecutor called a “pre-planned” crime.
A lawyer for Hadi Matar entered the plea on his behalf during an arraignment in western New York. The suspect appeared in court wearing a black and white jumpsuit and a white face mask, with his hands cuffed in front of him.
A judge ordered him held without bail after District Attorney Jason Schmidt told her Matar, 24, took steps to purposely put himself in position to harm Rushdie, getting an advance pass to the event where the author was speaking and arriving a day early bearing a fake ID.
Rushdie, 75, suffered a damaged liver and severed nerves in an arm and an eye, Wylie said on Friday evening. He was likely to lose the injured eye.
The attack was met with shock and outrage from much of the world, along with tributes and praise for the award-winning author who for more than 30 years has faced death threats for The Satanic Verses.