Man Accused of Stabbing Salman Rushdie Goes on Trial
The New York Times
Hadi Matar is charged with attempted murder in the attack, which took place in 2022 as Mr. Rushdie was about to speak at an arts conference in western New York.
Opening statements are expected on Monday in the trial of the man accused of rushing onstage and stabbing the author Salman Rushdie in 2022, leaving him blind in one eye.
The man, Hadi Matar of Fairview, N.J., is charged with attempted murder and assault in the stabbing, which occurred in front of thousands of people at the Chautauqua Institution’s main amphitheater in western New York. Mr. Matar, who was 24 years old at the time of the attack, has pleaded not guilty.
A jury was chosen last week in the trial, which will take place at the Chautauqua County Courthouse in Mayville, N.Y., about an hour south of Buffalo.
Jason Schmidt, the district attorney, plans to call 15 witnesses to testify against Mr. Matar, who faces up to 32 years in prison if convicted on both counts, according to court records.
Mr. Rushdie, 77, was about to give a talk on exiled writers when he was attacked. He had spent much of his life hiding from the Iranian government and Islamic extremists after the release of his 1988 novel, “The Satanic Verses.”
He is expected to testify during the trial, prosecutors said in October.
