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| Salman Rushdie describes stabbing attack as author takes stand in trial | |
| (31 minutes later) | |
| Author explains how he was ‘screaming because of the pain’ in trial of man accused of trying to kill him | |
| Salman Rushdie took the stand in the trial of the man accused of attempting to kill him at a literary gathering in western New York in August 2022, and described the shocking attack more than 35 years after he was first placed under a death warrant by Iranian religious leaders. | |
| Rushdie, 77, is testifying for the prosecution against Hadi Matar, 27, the man accused of assaulting him with a knife as he was about to address an open-air audience on a theme of shelter and home. | Rushdie, 77, is testifying for the prosecution against Hadi Matar, 27, the man accused of assaulting him with a knife as he was about to address an open-air audience on a theme of shelter and home. |
| The encounter in Judge David Foley’s courtroom brought Rushdie and Matar together for the first time since, prosecutors say, Matar dropped a bag containing assorted knives as he approached the stage at the Chautauqua Institution amphitheater, and stabbed the author more than a dozen times with a 10in knife. | The encounter in Judge David Foley’s courtroom brought Rushdie and Matar together for the first time since, prosecutors say, Matar dropped a bag containing assorted knives as he approached the stage at the Chautauqua Institution amphitheater, and stabbed the author more than a dozen times with a 10in knife. |
| Speaking in a clear voice, Rushdie described how he was sitting in a chair on the stage, facing co-speaker Henry Reece and the audience, when “this assault began”. | |
| “I was aware of this person rushing at me from my righthand side. i was aware of someone in dark clothes … I was struck by his eyes which seemed dark and ferocious to me”. | |
| Rushdie added: “He hit me very hard around my jawline and neck. Initially I thought he’d punched me with his fist, but very soon afterwards i saw blood on my clothes.” | |
| He continued: “Everything happened very quickly i was stabbed repeatedly, and most painfully in my eye. I struggled to get away. I held up my hand in self-defense and was stabbed through that.” | |
| Asked how many times he was stabbed, Rushdie said: “ I wasn’t keeping score.” | |
| Rushdie described getting up from his seat to get away from his attacker but fell. “He was trying to strike me as many times as possible.” | |
| “I was very badly injured and I couldn’t stand up any more,” Rushdie testified, estimating that he’d been struck 50 times by his assailant. | |
| “I was screaming because of the pain,” he said, describing the wound to his right eye that took his sight on that side. Rushdie showed jurors the empty socket beneath an eye patch he now wears. | |
| Matar, a dual US-Lebanese citizen, is accused of attempted murder and assault. He has pleaded not guilty. Matar muttered: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” as he was brought into court. Rushdie’s wife, Rachel Griffiths, and his agent, Andrew Wylie, sat in the gallery flanked by security. | |
| In opening statements, jurors had heard from prosecutors that Matar “almost succeeded in killing Mr Rushdie”. | |
| “Without hesitation, this man, holding his knife … forcefully and efficiently in its speed, plunged the knife into Mr Rushdie over and over and over and over again,” prosecutor Jason Schmidt said. | “Without hesitation, this man, holding his knife … forcefully and efficiently in its speed, plunged the knife into Mr Rushdie over and over and over and over again,” prosecutor Jason Schmidt said. |
| Assistant public defender Lynn Schaffer told jurors that prosecutors would be unable to prove Matar’s guilt, even using video recordings and photos. | |
| “The elements of the crime are more than ‘something really bad happened’ – they’re more defined,” Shaffer said. “Something bad did happen, something very bad did happen, but the district attorney has to prove much more than that.” | “The elements of the crime are more than ‘something really bad happened’ – they’re more defined,” Shaffer said. “Something bad did happen, something very bad did happen, but the district attorney has to prove much more than that.” |
| A series of witness were called on Monday by prosecutors looking to place Matar at the crime scene. Chautauqua employee Jordan Steves said he saw a “violent interaction with someone swinging their arms at an onstage guest …” | |
| Absent from the case so far is any reference to the fatwa that called for Rushdie’s death that was Matar’s motivation, according to an interview he gave after his arrest. Prosecutors say they can secure a conviction without reference to it. | Absent from the case so far is any reference to the fatwa that called for Rushdie’s death that was Matar’s motivation, according to an interview he gave after his arrest. Prosecutors say they can secure a conviction without reference to it. |
| Matar is set to be tried on federal terrorism charges, where the issue of motivation will be hard to exclude. The charges allege Matar was motivated by an endorsement of the fatwa by the Iran-backed group Hezbollah. On Monday, Matar said “Free Palestine” as he entered the courtroom. | Matar is set to be tried on federal terrorism charges, where the issue of motivation will be hard to exclude. The charges allege Matar was motivated by an endorsement of the fatwa by the Iran-backed group Hezbollah. On Monday, Matar said “Free Palestine” as he entered the courtroom. |
| A later trial on the federal charges – terrorism transcending national boundaries, providing material support to terrorists and attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization – will be scheduled in US district court in Buffalo. | A later trial on the federal charges – terrorism transcending national boundaries, providing material support to terrorists and attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization – will be scheduled in US district court in Buffalo. |
| Rushdie’s anticipated testimony is likely to focus on his direct experience of the alleged attack. But in an account published last year, Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder, he recounted how he had a premonition in a dream of of being attacked in an amphitheater. | Rushdie’s anticipated testimony is likely to focus on his direct experience of the alleged attack. But in an account published last year, Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder, he recounted how he had a premonition in a dream of of being attacked in an amphitheater. |
| The trial will last up to two weeks, the lawyers said. | The trial will last up to two weeks, the lawyers said. |