Salman Rushdy was first placed under a death warrant by Iranian religion, standing up at the trial of a man accused of trying to kill him at a literary gathering in western New York in August 2022. Leader explained the shocking attack over 35 years later.
Rushdy, 77, testifies to the charges against Hadi Matar, 27, who was accused of attacking him with a knife as he was trying to deal with an outdoor audience with the theme of shelter and home.
Judge David Foley's court encounter brought Rushdee and Matar together for the first time. Prosecutors say that Matar approached the stage at the Chutouka Society amphitheater and stabbed the author more than dozens of times when he dropped a bag containing various knives. 10 inch knife.
Speaking in a clear voice, Rushdy explained how he was sitting in a chair on stage, facing his co-star Henry Reese and the audience when “this attack began.”
“I knew this person was rushing to me from my right side. I knew someone in dark clothes… I was hit in his eyes .
Rushdy added: Initially I thought he punched me with my fist, but soon I saw blood in my clothes. ”
He continued: “Everything happened very quickly I was stabbed repeatedly and the most painful in my eyes. I had a hard time getting away. I raised my hands in self-defense, I was stabbed through it.”
When asked how many times he was stabbed, Rushdy said, “I wasn't maintaining my score.”
Rushdy said he rose from his seat to escape from the attacker, but fell. “He was trying to attack me as many times as possible.”
“I was so badly injured that I couldn't stand up anymore,” Rushdy testified, presuming he was hit by the assailant 50 times.
“I was screaming for the pain,” he said. Rushdy showed the ju umpire an empty socket under the patch of eyes he was currently wearing.
Mathal, a double US-Lebanese citizen, is accused of attempted murder and attack. He pleaded not guilty. Mathal muttered: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” he was taken to court. Rushdee's wife, Rachel Griffiths and his agent, Andrew Wyley, sat in a gallery sandwiched between security.
At the beginning of the statement, the ju judge had heard from the prosecutor that Matar had “almost succeeded in killing Mr. Rushdee.”
“Without hesitation, the man held the knife close to him, and at that speed, he thrusts the knife into Mr. Rushdee over and over again,” prosecutor Jason Schmidt said.
Public defender assistant Linshaffer told the ju judge that prosecutors cannot prove Mathal's guilt by using video recordings or photographs.
“The element of crime is more than 'something bad thing happened'. They're becoming more clear,” Shaffer said. “Something bad happened. Something really bad happened, but the district attorney has to prove something more.”
A series of witnesses were called on Monday by prosecutors who wanted to put Matar at the crime scene. Chautauqua employee Jordan Steves said he saw “a violent interaction with a guest on stage and an arm-waving person.”
According to an interview he conducted after his arrest, what so far lacks in the incident so far is a reference to Fatwa, who sought the death of Rushdee, a motive for Mathal. Prosecutors say they can secure a conviction without referring to it.
Matar is set to be tested on federal terrorist charges that are difficult to rule out motivational issues. The charges allege that Mathal was motivated by Fatwa's support by the Iran-backed group Hezbollah. On Monday, Mathal said “free Palestine” when he entered the courtroom.
A later trial on federal accusations — that attempts to cross the borders of terrorism, provide material support to terrorists and provide material support to terrorist organizations — is scheduled for in the US District Court in Buffalo.
In the account published last year, Knife: Meditation after the attempted murder, Rushdi recounted how she had a premonition in her dream of being attacked at the amphitheater.
The trial will last up to two weeks, the lawyer said.
