The man who stabbed author Salman Rushdie has been charged with attempted murder in the second degree and assault in the second degree. He was arraigned last night at Chautauqua County Jail in New York.
Press were barred from the hearing. The suspect, Hadi Matar, was remanded without bail. The charges could be upgraded if Rushdie’s condition deteriorates.
Rushdie, age 75, was attacked as he came on stage at the Chautauqua Institution in New York. Ironically, he was allegedly to talk about the US being a “safe haven” for speech.
Rushdie is on a ventilator and his agent said that he may lose an eye. He also was stabbed in the liver.
The author was issued a death sentence in 1989 by Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini. That’s after Rushdie’s book, The Satanic Verses, allegedly insulted the Prophet Mohammed and The Koran.
Rushdie went into hiding for a time after that, but apparently eased up on his security concerns in the last few years.
