The Man who tried to kill Salman Rushdie will be sentenced this Friday in New York.
A jury found Hadi Matar, 27, guilty of attempted second-degree murder and first-degree assault after he attacked the British-American author with a knife.
The young man who stabbed Salman Rushdie during a New York conference in 2022 will learn his sentence this Friday. A jury found Hadi Matar , 27, guilty of attempted second-degree murder and first-degree assault after he attacked the British-American author with a knife on stage.
Chautauqua County Prosecutor Jason Schmidt requested the maximum sentence of 25 years in prison for the attack on Rushdie and an additional seven years for wounding a second man who was with him. Both sentences would run concurrently.
The attack occurred on August 12, 2022, at the Chautauqua Institute, located about 70 kilometers southwest of Buffalo, where Rushdie was scheduled to give a talk on freedom of expression.
While being introduced, Matar took the stage and stabbed him more than a dozen times . The auditorium’s security cameras captured the exact moment the attacker lunged at the writer and swiftly attacked him, while the audience screamed in dismay.
Chautauqua County Prosecutor Jason Schmidt sought the maximum sentence of 25 years in prison for the attack on Rushdie and an additional seven years for wounding a second man who was with him. Both sentences would run concurrently. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)
Salman Rushdie , 77, suffered severe injuries to his face, neck, abdomen and right eye, which he permanently lost.
Following the attack, he was rushed to a hospital in Pennsylvania, where he remained for 17 days before continuing his recovery at a rehabilitation center in New York . During the trial, the perpetrator was a key witness and recounted the moment of the attack: “I thought I was dying ,” he said.
Rushdie will not be present at Friday’s hearing, prosecutor Schmidt confirmed. His recovery process was described in detail in his memoir, “Knife ,” published in April 2024, in which he recounts the physical and emotional aftermath of the attack.
Matar, a resident of Fairview, New Jersey, is a U.S. citizen of Lebanese descent. According to the investigation, he traveled to the event motivated by the fatwa issued in 1989 by Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini against Rushdie following the publication of his novel The Satanic Verses , which was considered blasphemous by sectors of Shia Islam.
Although Iran declared years later that it would not actively support the writer’s assassination, it never formally revoked the edict.
Federal prosecutors allege that Matar believed the fatwa was still in effect and that it was backed by the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah.
He was even allegedly influenced by a speech by the group’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah , in 2006. These antecedents have led to a new federal case that will focus on possible terrorism offenses.
Matar has been charged in federal court with providing material support to terrorists, attempting to cooperate with Hezbollah , and committing acts of international terrorism. He pleaded not guilty to all three charges.
This second trial will delve into the ideological motivations behind the attack, while the first focused exclusively on the events that occurred during the attack.
The jury in the first trial delivered its verdict after less than two hours of deliberation. Evidence presented included video footage of the attack, eyewitness accounts, and medical statements .
For Prosecutor Schmidt, the crime was a deliberate attempt to silence an author who for decades has defended freedom of expression in the face of extremist threats. “ This was a cowardly act that cannot go unpunished ,” he said.
This Friday’s ruling will close the first phase of the case, but Matar will continue to face federal prosecution.
(With information from the Associated Press)
