Hadi Matar was convicted of attempted murder and assault in his 2022 attack on Salman Rushdie, the Washington Post reports.
A jury in Chautauqua County, New York, found the New Jersey man guilty of repeatedly stabbing the Midnight’s Children and The Satanic Verses author on stage before he was due to give a lecture. Matar could be sentenced to 32 years in prison.
The attack on Rushdie nearly killed him, and cost him the use of one hand and the vision in one eye. Earlier this month, Rushdie testified against Matar, and recalled the attack, saying, “It occurred to me quite clearly that I was dying. That was my predominant thought.”
Rushdie wrote a memoir about the attack, Knife, which was published last April. The book, a National Book Award finalist, is being adapted as a documentary by filmmaker Alex Gibney.
While the motive for the attack remains unclear, it is likely that it was related to Rushdie’s 1988 novel The Satanic Verses, which led to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issuing a fatwa calling for his death. Matar told the New York Post in an interview shortly after the attack, “I respect the ayatollah. I think he’s a great person….I don’t like [Rushdie] very much. He’s someone who attacked Islam, he attacked their beliefs, the belief systems.”
Matar is scheduled to be sentenced on April 23. He also faces federal charges of terrorism, for which he could be sentenced to life in prison.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
