Hadi Matar, accused of stabbing author Salman Rushdie in 2022, faces trial in Western New York. Jury selection began with prosecutors planning to present video evidence of the attack. The trial is expected to last several weeks.
The man accused of stabbing author Salman Rushdie is set to face trial in Western New York . Jury selection began Tuesday in Chautauqua County Court for the trial of Hadi Matar . The 27-year-old from New Jersey has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and assault charges. In August 2022, Rushdie was stabbed multiple times as he was about to take the stage for a discussion on writer safety. He survived the attack, which left him blind in one eye and with a permanent hand injury.
The event's moderator was also wounded in the attack. Matar has been held without bail since he was subdued by the crowd and taken into custody. Salman Rushdie is expected to be one of the first witnesses on the stand. The trial is projected to last several weeks, with approximately 15 witnesses called to testify, according to Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt. 'This isn't a back alley event that occurs unwitnessed in a dark alley,' Schmidt said after a pretrial hearing. 'This is something that was recorded, it was witnessed live by thousands of people.' Prosecutors say they will show jurors video of the attack, but will stay away from any discussion about whether Matar was motivated by a terrorist organization's fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie's death. The district attorney says that will be addressed in a separate federal trial for the suspect in U.S. District Court in Buffalo. 'From my standpoint, this is a localized event. It's a stabbing event. It's fairly straightforward,' Schmidt said. 'I don't really see a need to get into motive evidence, whether that's applicable or not applicable and what that consists of. I'd like to avoid all of that.' Matar's attorney, Nathaniel Barone, argued jurors should be screened for any prejudice against people of Middle Eastern descent regardless, given the discussions of the fatwa in previous court proceedings. 'They've talked about the reason why this alleged crime supposedly occurred was because of this book involving Muslims, all that. So it's kind of like the barn door's been opened,' he said. Rushdie spent years in hiding after the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued the fatwa in 1989 after publication of the novel 'The Satanic Verses,' which some Muslims consider blasphemous. In the federal indictment, authorities allege Matar believed the edict was backed by the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah and endorsed in a 2006 speech by the group's then-leader, Hassan Nasrallah. Matar was born in the U.S. but holds dual citizenship in Lebanon, where his parents were born. Rushdie is a native of India who lived for years in London. He became a U.S. citizen in 2016
Salman Rushdie Hadi Matar Stabbing Trial Chautauqua County New York Fatwa Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini The Satanic Verses Hezbollah
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Salman Rushdie Attacker to Stand Trial in New YorkThe man accused of attacking author Salman Rushdie in 2022 is set to stand trial in New York. The attack left Rushdie blind in one eye and with permanent hand damage. Key witnesses will include Rushdie himself and others who witnessed the attack. The trial is expected to last several weeks.
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