Salman Rushdie's knife attacker found guilty, know who is Hadi Matar, who can be sentenced to 30 years

Salman Rushdie attempted murder case: Hadi Matar, the attacker who attacked famous Indian-origin writer Salman Rushdie in America in 2022, has been found guilty of attempted murder and assault by a New York court. After a trial in Chautauqua County Court, the jury found 27-year-old Hadi Matar guilty after less than two hours of deliberation. The man who attacked famous British-Indian writer Salman Rushdie several times with a knife during an address in New York was convicted of attempted murder and assault. According to media reports, 27-year-old Hadi Matar may now face a prison sentence of more than 30 years.

Rushdie suffered serious injuries in the attack in August 2022. His liver was damaged. The jury convicted Matar after a two-week trial in Chautauqua County Court in western New York state, near the site of the attack. Matar's sentencing date is set for April 23. Rushdie, 77, testified that he was on stage at the historic Chautauqua Institution when he saw a man running toward him.

Recalling the incident, he said he was stunned to see the attacker's eyes. "They were black and looked very ferocious," he said. At first he thought he had been punched but later realised he had been stabbed – 15 times in all – and suffered wounds on his eye, cheek, neck, chest, torso and thigh. The attack took place more than 35 years after Rushdie's controversial novel The Satanic Verses was first published.

The novel, inspired by the life of the Prophet Muhammad, sparked outrage among some Muslims who considered its content blasphemous. The book was banned in some countries after its publication in 1988. Rushdie faced countless death threats.

The controversy surrounding 'The Satanic Verses' had a significant impact on geopolitics. In 1989, Iran's supreme leader Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa ordering Muslims to kill Rushdie. Rushdie was forced to go underground for years after this. However, Iran's stance on this fatwa kept changing in the following years.

In recent years, the author has said he believes threats against him have decreased. In a 2022 interview with the New York Post from prison, Matar praised Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini for calling for Rushdie's death. "I don't think he's a very good person. He's a person who has attacked Islam," he said of the author.

Who is Hadi Matar?

Hadi Matar, 27, has dual US and Lebanese citizenship. Matar, from Fairview, New Jersey, was inspired to attack Rushdie by a 2006 speech in which the leader of the terrorist group Hezbollah endorsed a decades-old fatwa, or ruling, calling for Rushdie's death.

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Matar said he had read only a few pages of "The Satanic Verses." Born in Fairview, New Jersey, to Lebanese parents, Matar is also charged in a separate case with helping the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah, which is designated a terrorist organization by Western countries, Israel, Gulf Arab countries and the Arab League.