Salman Rushdie barely survived a knife attack in the US state of New York in 2022. Now the process has started – and Rushdie meets the attacker. In the court, the author describes the serious assassination attempt.
Two and a half years after the assassination attempt on Salman Rushdie, the writer in court opposed the knife attacker who almost took his life at the time. Rushdie described the knife attack from August 2022 in the US state of New York on the second day of the trial.
At first he noticed the dark and wild eyes of the approaching attacker, said Rushdie in court. At first he thought he was being beaten. But then he noticed that “a lot of blood flowed on my clothes”.
“It was very clear to me that I die,” said the 77-year-old US media reports. “And that was my predominant thought.” The people who overpowered the attacker would probably have saved his life, he explained.
Since attack on one eye blindly
District Prosecutor Jason Schmidt asked Rushdie to identify perpetrators Hadi Matar. Rushdie said he had only caught a short look at the man who came over the stage and repeatedly stabbed him with a knife.
The attacker met, among other things, cheek, neck and his right eye. “After that I screamed in pain.” Since then, rushdie has been blind in one eye and wears glasses with a darkened glass. The lasting consequences are not limited to its reduced eyesight. “I'm not as energetic as before,” he said. “I am not physically as strong as I used to be.”
Reporters present reported that Matar on the dock avoided it to look at rush the rush.
Did through video recordings and witnesses
Matar – an American from New Jersey – does not guilty. But there are various eyewitnesses and video material that prove the crime. His defense seems to be targeting to sow in the jury's doubts that he wanted to commit a deliberate murder.
If he is not convicted of intentional murder, this could reduce his prison sentence. He is charged with attempted murder and assault, and he threatens 30 years in prison. The process should take about two weeks.
In 1989 the then Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatollah Chomeini called for Rushdie's novel “The Satanian Verse” to murder the author. Rushdie lived hidden in changing places for more than ten years with constant guard.
Rushdie processed the knife attack in Chautauqua in his book “Knife: Thoughts after an attempt to murder” in April 2024.
