Jury Convicts Hadi Matar in Federal Terrorism Case Over Rushdie Stabbing

BUFFALO, NEW YORK-A U.S. federal jury on Wednesday convicted Hadi Matar on terrorism-related charges for the 2022 stabbing of author Salman Rushdie at a public literary event in western New York, concluding that the attack was motivated by a decades-old religious decree calling for the writer’s death over his novel “The Satanic Verses.”

The verdict followed only a few hours of jury deliberations and found Matar guilty on all counts, including engaging in an act of transnational terrorism. The conviction marks the latest legal outcome in an attack that left Rushdie critically wounded after he was repeatedly stabbed while preparing to speak about the safety of writers at the Chautauqua Institution in August 2022.

Federal prosecutors argued throughout the trial that Matar acted in response to the 1989 fatwa issued by Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who called for Rushdie’s killing following publication of “The Satanic Verses.” The novel sparked widespread protests in parts of the Muslim world, where some regarded passages in the book as blasphemous.

Following the verdict, Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Eisenberg said the attack illustrated what he described as the global reach of Iranian terrorism. Iran’s government has denied any involvement in the assault.

Matar, 28, is already serving a 25-year prison sentence imposed by a New York state court after his conviction on attempted murder charges stemming from the same attack. He is scheduled to be sentenced in the federal case on Nov. 3, where he could face a potential life sentence.

During the federal trial, prosecutors presented electronic messages that they said showed Matar discussing the fatwa in 2021 and 2022 and expressing anger over Rushdie’s writings. According to prosecutors, the messages indicated that Matar believed the author had insulted Islam and referred to statements made by the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah concerning Rushdie.

Prosecutors also told jurors that Matar spent months preparing for the attack by identifying where Rushdie lived and monitoring his public appearances before focusing on the author’s scheduled appearance at the Chautauqua Institution.

In opening arguments, prosecutors cited private messages in which Matar allegedly wrote about killing Rushdie and characterised the planned attack as part of what he considered a jihad. They said those communications demonstrated planning and intent leading up to the stabbing.

The defence disputed that interpretation, arguing that prosecutors failed to establish Matar’s state of mind beyond reasonable doubt. Defence lawyer Nathaniel Barone maintained that the government had not proved what Matar intended when he attacked Rushdie.

Matar declined to testify during the trial. Rushdie appeared as a prosecution witness and told jurors that he could not speak to his attacker’s motives but described suffering multiple wounds across his body during the assault. Rushdie lost the sight in his right eye as a result of the injuries.

The attack unfolded as Rushdie was being introduced to an audience gathered for a discussion on writers’ safety. According to trial testimony, Matar rushed onto the stage and repeatedly stabbed the author before audience members, fellow speaker Henry Reese and law enforcement officers intervened. Civilians restrained Matar until officers took him into custody.

Rushdie, who won the Booker Prize in 1981 for “Midnight’s Children,” spent years in hiding after Khomeini issued the fatwa following publication of “The Satanic Verses” in 1988. Although Iran’s government later distanced itself from the decree in 1998, the fatwa was never formally withdrawn. Khomeini’s successor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, indicated in 2017 that it remained in effect, while an Iranian foundation has continued to offer a multimillion-dollar bounty for Rushdie’s killing.

Rushdie testified that he had lived publicly for more than two decades without serious security incidents before the 2022 attack. Since then, he has published a memoir recounting the assault and later returned to fiction with “The Eleventh Hour.” The British author was also recognised with a lifetime achievement award from the Dayton Literary Peace Prize.