Attack Suspect Salman Rushdie Pleads Not Guilty To Attempted Murder Assault

Hadi Mattar, 24, is accused of injuring Rushdie, 75, on Friday, shortly before the author of “The Satanic Verses” was to deliver a lecture on stage at an educational retreat near Lake Erie. Rushdie was hospitalized with serious injuries, which writers and politicians around the world decried as an attack on freedom of expression. Matar was arraigned in Chautauqua County Court on an indictment returned earlier in the day by a grand jury charging him with attempted second-degree murder, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, and one count of second-degree assault. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register He has been in jail since his arrest and was wearing a gray striped jumpsuit, a white COVID-19 face mask and his hands were bound. Judge David Foley ordered Mattar to have no contact with Rushdie and agreed to his defense attorney’s request for a temporary gag order barring the parties from discussing the case in the media. He said he would consider the defense’s request to release Matar on bail. Matar’s next court appearance was scheduled for September 22. The attack came 33 years after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then Iran’s supreme leader, issued a fatwa, or religious edict, calling on Muslims to assassinate Rushdie just months after the Satanic Verses was published. Some Muslims saw the passages about the Prophet Muhammad as blasphemous. Rushdie, who was born in India to a Kashmiri Muslim family, lived lavishly in his head and spent nine years in hiding under the protection of the British police. In 1998, Iran’s pro-reform government of President Mohammad Khatami distanced itself from the fatwa, saying the threat against Rushdie was over. However, the multimillion-dollar reward has since increased and the fatwa has never been lifted: Khomeini’s successor, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was fired from Twitter in 2019 for saying the fatwa against Rushdie was “irrevocable.” In an interview published by the New York Post on Wednesday, Matar said he respected Khomeini but would not say whether he was inspired by the fatwa. He said he had “read a few pages” of “The Satanic Verses” and watched the author’s YouTube videos. “I don’t really like him,” Matar said of Rushdie, as quoted by the Post. “He is someone who attacked Islam, attacked their beliefs, their belief systems.” Iran’s foreign ministry said on Monday that Tehran should not be blamed for the attack. Matar is believed to have acted alone, police said. Matar is a Shia Muslim born in California to a Lebanese family. Prosecutors say he traveled to the Chautauqua Foundation, a retreat about 12 miles (19 km) from Lake Erie, where he bought a pass to Rushdie’s lecture. Witnesses said there were no apparent security checks at the lecture venue and that Matar did not speak as he attacked the author. He was arrested on stage by an NYPD trooper after being wrestled to the ground by members of the audience. Rushdie suffered serious injuries in the attack, including nerve damage to his arm, lacerations to his liver and the possible loss of an eye, his agent said. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Reporting by Tyler Clifford in Mayville, New York. additional reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Chicago. Editing by Frank McGurty, Bernadette Baum and Deepa Babington Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

title: “Attack Suspect Salman Rushdie Pleads Not Guilty To Attempted Murder Assault Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-16” author: “Reginald Brown”

Hadi Mattar, 24, is accused of injuring Rushdie, 75, on Friday, shortly before the author of “The Satanic Verses” was to deliver a lecture on stage at an educational retreat near Lake Erie. Rushdie was hospitalized with serious injuries, which writers and politicians around the world decried as an attack on freedom of expression. Matar was arraigned in Chautauqua County Court on an indictment returned earlier in the day by a grand jury charging him with attempted second-degree murder, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, and one count of second-degree assault. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register He has been in jail since his arrest and was wearing a gray striped jumpsuit, a white COVID-19 face mask and his hands were bound. Judge David Foley ordered Mattar to have no contact with Rushdie and agreed to his defense attorney’s request for a temporary gag order barring the parties from discussing the case in the media. He said he would consider the defense’s request to release Matar on bail. Matar’s next court appearance was scheduled for September 22. The attack came 33 years after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then Iran’s supreme leader, issued a fatwa, or religious edict, calling on Muslims to assassinate Rushdie just months after the Satanic Verses was published. Some Muslims saw the passages about the Prophet Muhammad as blasphemous. Rushdie, who was born in India to a Kashmiri Muslim family, lived lavishly in his head and spent nine years in hiding under the protection of the British police. In 1998, Iran’s pro-reform government of President Mohammad Khatami distanced itself from the fatwa, saying the threat against Rushdie was over. However, the multimillion-dollar reward has since increased and the fatwa has never been lifted: Khomeini’s successor, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was fired from Twitter in 2019 for saying the fatwa against Rushdie was “irrevocable.” In an interview published by the New York Post on Wednesday, Matar said he respected Khomeini but would not say whether he was inspired by the fatwa. He said he had “read a few pages” of “The Satanic Verses” and watched the author’s YouTube videos. “I don’t really like him,” Matar said of Rushdie, as quoted by the Post. “He is someone who attacked Islam, attacked their beliefs, their belief systems.” Iran’s foreign ministry said on Monday that Tehran should not be blamed for the attack. Matar is believed to have acted alone, police said. Matar is a Shia Muslim born in California to a Lebanese family. Prosecutors say he traveled to the Chautauqua Foundation, a retreat about 12 miles (19 km) from Lake Erie, where he bought a pass to Rushdie’s lecture. Witnesses said there were no apparent security checks at the lecture venue and that Matar did not speak as he attacked the author. He was arrested on stage by an NYPD trooper after being wrestled to the ground by members of the audience. Rushdie suffered serious injuries in the attack, including nerve damage to his arm, lacerations to his liver and the possible loss of an eye, his agent said. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Reporting by Tyler Clifford in Mayville, New York. additional reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Chicago. Editing by Frank McGurty, Bernadette Baum and Deepa Babington Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

title: “Attack Suspect Salman Rushdie Pleads Not Guilty To Attempted Murder Assault Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-14” author: “Quentin Kleman”

Hadi Mattar, 24, is accused of injuring Rushdie, 75, on Friday, shortly before the author of “The Satanic Verses” was to deliver a lecture on stage at an educational retreat near Lake Erie. Rushdie was hospitalized with serious injuries, which writers and politicians around the world decried as an attack on freedom of expression. Matar was arraigned in Chautauqua County Court on an indictment returned earlier in the day by a grand jury charging him with attempted second-degree murder, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, and one count of second-degree assault. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register He has been in jail since his arrest and was wearing a gray striped jumpsuit, a white COVID-19 face mask and his hands were bound. Judge David Foley ordered Mattar to have no contact with Rushdie and agreed to his defense attorney’s request for a temporary gag order barring the parties from discussing the case in the media. He said he would consider the defense’s request to release Matar on bail. Matar’s next court appearance was scheduled for September 22. The attack came 33 years after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then Iran’s supreme leader, issued a fatwa, or religious edict, calling on Muslims to assassinate Rushdie just months after the Satanic Verses was published. Some Muslims saw the passages about the Prophet Muhammad as blasphemous. Rushdie, who was born in India to a Kashmiri Muslim family, lived lavishly in his head and spent nine years in hiding under the protection of the British police. In 1998, Iran’s pro-reform government of President Mohammad Khatami distanced itself from the fatwa, saying the threat against Rushdie was over. However, the multimillion-dollar reward has since increased and the fatwa has never been lifted: Khomeini’s successor, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was fired from Twitter in 2019 for saying the fatwa against Rushdie was “irrevocable.” In an interview published by the New York Post on Wednesday, Matar said he respected Khomeini but would not say whether he was inspired by the fatwa. He said he had “read a few pages” of “The Satanic Verses” and watched the author’s YouTube videos. “I don’t really like him,” Matar said of Rushdie, as quoted by the Post. “He is someone who attacked Islam, attacked their beliefs, their belief systems.” Iran’s foreign ministry said on Monday that Tehran should not be blamed for the attack. Matar is believed to have acted alone, police said. Matar is a Shia Muslim born in California to a Lebanese family. Prosecutors say he traveled to the Chautauqua Foundation, a retreat about 12 miles (19 km) from Lake Erie, where he bought a pass to Rushdie’s lecture. Witnesses said there were no apparent security checks at the lecture venue and that Matar did not speak as he attacked the author. He was arrested on stage by an NYPD trooper after being wrestled to the ground by members of the audience. Rushdie suffered serious injuries in the attack, including nerve damage to his arm, lacerations to his liver and the possible loss of an eye, his agent said. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Reporting by Tyler Clifford in Mayville, New York. additional reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Chicago. Editing by Frank McGurty, Bernadette Baum and Deepa Babington Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

title: “Attack Suspect Salman Rushdie Pleads Not Guilty To Attempted Murder Assault Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-10-26” author: “Mark Korfhage”

Hadi Mattar, 24, is accused of injuring Rushdie, 75, on Friday, shortly before the author of “The Satanic Verses” was to deliver a lecture on stage at an educational retreat near Lake Erie. Rushdie was hospitalized with serious injuries, which writers and politicians around the world decried as an attack on freedom of expression. Matar was arraigned in Chautauqua County Court on an indictment returned earlier in the day by a grand jury charging him with attempted second-degree murder, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, and one count of second-degree assault. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register He has been in jail since his arrest and was wearing a gray striped jumpsuit, a white COVID-19 face mask and his hands were bound. Judge David Foley ordered Mattar to have no contact with Rushdie and agreed to his defense attorney’s request for a temporary gag order barring the parties from discussing the case in the media. He said he would consider the defense’s request to release Matar on bail. Matar’s next court appearance was scheduled for September 22. The attack came 33 years after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then Iran’s supreme leader, issued a fatwa, or religious edict, calling on Muslims to assassinate Rushdie just months after the Satanic Verses was published. Some Muslims saw the passages about the Prophet Muhammad as blasphemous. Rushdie, who was born in India to a Kashmiri Muslim family, lived lavishly in his head and spent nine years in hiding under the protection of the British police. In 1998, Iran’s pro-reform government of President Mohammad Khatami distanced itself from the fatwa, saying the threat against Rushdie was over. However, the multimillion-dollar reward has since increased and the fatwa has never been lifted: Khomeini’s successor, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was fired from Twitter in 2019 for saying the fatwa against Rushdie was “irrevocable.” In an interview published by the New York Post on Wednesday, Matar said he respected Khomeini but would not say whether he was inspired by the fatwa. He said he had “read a few pages” of “The Satanic Verses” and watched the author’s YouTube videos. “I don’t really like him,” Matar said of Rushdie, as quoted by the Post. “He is someone who attacked Islam, attacked their beliefs, their belief systems.” Iran’s foreign ministry said on Monday that Tehran should not be blamed for the attack. Matar is believed to have acted alone, police said. Matar is a Shia Muslim born in California to a Lebanese family. Prosecutors say he traveled to the Chautauqua Foundation, a retreat about 12 miles (19 km) from Lake Erie, where he bought a pass to Rushdie’s lecture. Witnesses said there were no apparent security checks at the lecture venue and that Matar did not speak as he attacked the author. He was arrested on stage by an NYPD trooper after being wrestled to the ground by members of the audience. Rushdie suffered serious injuries in the attack, including nerve damage to his arm, lacerations to his liver and the possible loss of an eye, his agent said. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Reporting by Tyler Clifford in Mayville, New York. additional reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Chicago. Editing by Frank McGurty, Bernadette Baum and Deepa Babington Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

title: “Attack Suspect Salman Rushdie Pleads Not Guilty To Attempted Murder Assault Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-12” author: “Michelle Dimond”

Hadi Mattar, 24, is accused of injuring Rushdie, 75, on Friday, shortly before the author of “The Satanic Verses” was to deliver a lecture on stage at an educational retreat near Lake Erie. Rushdie was hospitalized with serious injuries, which writers and politicians around the world decried as an attack on freedom of expression. Matar was arraigned in Chautauqua County Court on an indictment returned earlier in the day by a grand jury charging him with attempted second-degree murder, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, and one count of second-degree assault. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register He has been in jail since his arrest and was wearing a gray striped jumpsuit, a white COVID-19 face mask and his hands were bound. Judge David Foley ordered Mattar to have no contact with Rushdie and agreed to his defense attorney’s request for a temporary gag order barring the parties from discussing the case in the media. He said he would consider the defense’s request to release Matar on bail. Matar’s next court appearance was scheduled for September 22. The attack came 33 years after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then Iran’s supreme leader, issued a fatwa, or religious edict, calling on Muslims to assassinate Rushdie just months after the Satanic Verses was published. Some Muslims saw the passages about the Prophet Muhammad as blasphemous. Rushdie, who was born in India to a Kashmiri Muslim family, lived lavishly in his head and spent nine years in hiding under the protection of the British police. In 1998, Iran’s pro-reform government of President Mohammad Khatami distanced itself from the fatwa, saying the threat against Rushdie was over. However, the multimillion-dollar reward has since increased and the fatwa has never been lifted: Khomeini’s successor, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was fired from Twitter in 2019 for saying the fatwa against Rushdie was “irrevocable.” In an interview published by the New York Post on Wednesday, Matar said he respected Khomeini but would not say whether he was inspired by the fatwa. He said he had “read a few pages” of “The Satanic Verses” and watched the author’s YouTube videos. “I don’t really like him,” Matar said of Rushdie, as quoted by the Post. “He is someone who attacked Islam, attacked their beliefs, their belief systems.” Iran’s foreign ministry said on Monday that Tehran should not be blamed for the attack. Matar is believed to have acted alone, police said. Matar is a Shia Muslim born in California to a Lebanese family. Prosecutors say he traveled to the Chautauqua Foundation, a retreat about 12 miles (19 km) from Lake Erie, where he bought a pass to Rushdie’s lecture. Witnesses said there were no apparent security checks at the lecture venue and that Matar did not speak as he attacked the author. He was arrested on stage by an NYPD trooper after being wrestled to the ground by members of the audience. Rushdie suffered serious injuries in the attack, including nerve damage to his arm, lacerations to his liver and the possible loss of an eye, his agent said. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Reporting by Tyler Clifford in Mayville, New York. additional reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Chicago. Editing by Frank McGurty, Bernadette Baum and Deepa Babington Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.