A jury convicted Hadi Matar, 28, on Wednesday of federal terrorism charges for the 2022 stabbing of author Salman Rushdie. The attack occurred as Rushdie prepared to speak on writers' safety, leaving him with 15 stab wounds and permanent loss of sight in his right eye. Matar, already serving a 25-year state prison sentence for attempted murder, now faces a potential life sentence under federal law.
Prosecutors argued Matar was motivated by the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's 1989 fatwa calling for Rushdie's death over his novel 'The Satanic Verses.' Defense attorney Nathaniel Barone countered that the government lacked proof of Matar's motivations. Matar declined to testify, while Rushdie described the attack's physical toll but acknowledged his survival as a 'miracle.'
The 1988 novel, which won critical acclaim in the UK, sparked global controversy for passages some Muslims deemed blasphemous toward Prophet Muhammad. The backlash included riots and at least 45 deaths. Rushdie, a Booker Prize winner for 'Midnight's Children,' has lived under threat since the fatwa's issuance.