NEW YORK — The US man who stabbed and partially blinded author Salman Rushdie at a speaking engagement in 2022 was found guilty on Wednesday of additional charges, including providing material support to a terrorist group.
Hadi Matar, 28, already serving a 25-year prison term on state charges of attempted murder for the knife assault, now faces a maximum penalty of life behind bars when he is sentenced on his federal conviction, scheduled for November 3.
Matar was convicted in a New York federal court on Wednesday of providing assistance to Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed faction which is designated as a terrorist group by the US, UK and many other countries.
Prosecutors argued that Matar had been motivated by a 1989 fatwa, a religious edict, issued by Iran’s then Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini for Rushdie’s death over his blasphemous novel, “The Satanic Verses.”
The verdict capped a trial that began last Tuesday and included prosecution testimony from Rushdie, 79, winner of the prestigious Booker Prize for his 1981 novel, “Midnight’s Children.” Neither Matar nor anyone else was called to the witness stand by the defense.
The award-winning author testified during the trial, describing the attack and crediting a firefighter with saving his life by providing medical care.
The jury convicted Matar of engaging in an act of transnational terrorism and providing material support to Hezbollah.
During the trial in the New York city of Buffalo, prosecutors argued that Matar had been motivated by a 2006 speech by the then-leader of Hezbollah, calling for the fatwa against Rushdie to be enforced, and that he had plotted the attack for two years.
“The defendant decided no one was going to do it, so he had to do it,” Assistant US Attorney Timothy Lynch said in his closing statement, according to The Buffalo News.
Source: Saudi Gazette