Washington:
Prosecutors at the trial of a man accused of attacking Salman Rushdi told the ju judge on Monday that the author is “dangerously dying” in the enthusiastic attack that blinded him in one eye. .
Hadi Mathal, a 27-year-old Lebanese-American, said he was “free Palestine” when he was led to court, but murdered him in an attack at an arts event in western New York on August 12, 2022. He was charged with attempted and attempted assault.
Mathal is accused of stabbing Rushdee about ten times with a knife, leaving her vision in the right eye in the grave state.
Prosecutor Jason Schmidt said Rushdie, who had been facing death threats since the release of his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses, has just taken a seat at an amphitheater in front of around 1,000 people. He spoke.
“The young medium-build guy in a dark face mask appeared from behind the theatre,” Schmidt said. “When he got on stage, he quickly accelerated to a full outrun.”
“(Matar) I repeated the knife over and over again with strength and efficiency, speed.
Schmidt said Rushdy raised his hand to protect him, but remains seated after several blows landed.
“The Devil's Poem” has been declared blasphemous by the Iranian supreme leader, and the Indian-born writer, based in New York, is facing security risks for a long time.
– “Attacked Islam”? –
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or religious order, in 1989, which called on Muslims around the world to kill Rushdi.
Hezbollah upheld Fatwa, the FBI said, and Mathal faces another charge in federal court on terrorist charges.
Wearing a blue shirt, Mathal, who is frequently awarded with his five-person legal team in the glamorous courtroom on Monday, had previously read only two pages of Rushdy's novel in the New York Post. said the author believed that he “attacked Islam.”
Rushdy, now 77, suffered multiple stab wounds before attendees and security guards conquered the attackers, and was later identified as Matar by police.
Mathal was “dangerously close” to killing Rushdi, claiming that Schmidt reported that he had stabbed the author through his right eye with such ferocity.
Rushdi's Adam's apple was also partially lacerated, and his liver and small intestine penetrated.
“His blood pressure was low,” the prosecutor said.
– Living under Fatowa –
One of Mathal's lawyers, Lynn Shaffer, said in the opening discussion that the prosecutors attempted to present the case as “candidly – open, close,” as Super Bowl references and cough attacks. He said he had suspended the
“Beware of the assumptions made by police witnesses… how will it colour the way they investigate this case?” she said. “They are assuming something about Mr. Matal, which will affect the way they investigate.”
Large media presences have gathered in the town of Mayville's small lake front resort near the Canadian border, and the trial continues.
Mathal's defense team sought delays in the case as his key lawyer was hospitalized, but Judge David Foley denied it.
Mathal had previously tried to move the trial from Mayville, nearby where Rushdee was attacked. A fair trial from 12 ju judges and an alternative to the four recruited locally was impossible.
Rushdy lived in London's quarantine for the first decade after Fatowa was issued, but until the last 20 years – the attack, he lived a relatively normal life in New York.
He was not in court on Monday.
Last year he published a memoir called “The Knife,” where he recounted his near-death experience.
“Why didn't I fight? Why didn't I run? I was just standing there,” Rushdy wrote.
Iran denied links to attackers, but said that Rushdi was the only one to blame for the incident.
“I'm proud of the work I've done, and it includes “Devil's Poem.” If someone is looking for regret, you can stop reading here,” Rushdy writes.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published by Syndicate Feed.)
