Daijiworld Media Network - New York

New York, May 17: Hadi Matar, the man who stabbed acclaimed author Salman Rushdie on a New York stage in 2022, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after being found guilty of attempted murder and assault earlier this year.

Rushdie, who was left blind in one eye and seriously injured, did not attend the sentencing but submitted a written statement reflecting on the harrowing attack.

The 27-year-old convict was sentenced to the maximum term for attacking the 77-year-old writer during a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution, where Rushdie was set to speak about writer safety. Matar also received a concurrent 7-year sentence for injuring another man on stage.

During sentencing, Matar accused Rushdie of hypocrisy and claimed the author was trying to “bully other people.” Prosecutors said Matar’s actions were deliberate and meant to cause the most damage possible, not just to Rushdie, but to the audience and community.

District Attorney Jason Schmidt said Matar designed the attack to echo the 1989 fatwa issued by Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini over Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses, deemed blasphemous by some Muslims.

Despite pleading not guilty, Matar was captured on video stabbing Rushdie repeatedly as the audience watched in horror.

While this trial focused on the stabbing, Matar now faces a federal case for terrorism-related charges, including providing support to Hezbollah. The upcoming trial is expected to reveal more about Matar's radical motives and ideological influences.

Rushdie, author of Midnight’s Children and Victory City, chronicled his recovery in the 2024 memoir Knife, written after weeks of hospitalization and rehabilitation.