Hadi Matar, 27, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for stabbing and partially blinding author Salman Rushdie onstage at a Western New York Arts Institute in 2022.
The attack also wounded Henry Reese, co-founder of the City of Asylum. Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt said Rushdie has been traumatized and experiences nightmares.
Matar was found guilty of attempted murder and assault in February. The prosecution argued that Matar’s actions were a major setback for Rushdie, who had been in hiding due to death threats since the publication of his novel “The Satanic Verses” in 1988. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had denounced the book as blasphemous, leading to a fatwa calling for Rushdie’s death.
The attack occurred on August 12, 2022, when Matar rushed the stage and stabbed Rushdie multiple times in the head, neck, torso, and left hand. Rushdie’s injuries included blindness in one eye and damage to his liver and intestines, requiring emergency surgery and months of recovery. Reese was also stabbed and suffered a shallow knife wound and deep bruising near his right eye.
Matar’s defence lawyers argued that prosecutors failed to prove intent to kill, and his attorney Nathaniel Barone said Matar would appeal the verdict. Matar faces additional federal charges for attempting to murder Rushdie as an act of terrorism and providing material support to Hezbollah, a designated terrorist organization. He will face those charges in a separate trial.
