MAYVILLE, N.Y. — The man convicted of trying to stab author Salman Rushdie on a New York lecture stage in 2022 was sentenced Friday to 25 years in prison for the attack.
A jury deliberated less than two hours before finding Hadi Matar, 27, guilty of attempted murder and assault in February. The attack left Rushdie critically injured and blind in one eye. The 25-year sentence was the maximum penalty that could be imposed.
Rushie had lived under the threat of attack for more than three decades. His 1988 novel, “The Satanic Verses,” included a fictionalized representation of the Prophet Muhammad that many Muslims considered blasphemous. In 1989, Iran’s supreme leader issued a religious edict against Rushdie, calling for his death.
Rushdie, 77, did not return to court in western New York for the sentencing but submitted a victim impact statement. He was the key witness during trial and described how he believed he was dying when he was attacked by a masked man, later identified as Matar.
The assailant stabbed Rushdie several times in his head at body as the author was preparing to speak at the Chautauqua Institution to speak about writer safety.
The trial lasted less than two weeks and was conducted in the small New York town of Mayville, located about an hour south of Buffalo.
Matar did not testify in his defense, and his attorneys did not call any witnesses.
Before sentencing, Matar stood and made a statement about free speech, adding that Rushdie was a hypocrite.
“Salman Rushdie wants to disrespect other people,” Matar said. “He wants to be a bully, he wants to bully other people. I don’t agree with that.”
Matar was also sentenced to seven years for wounding a man who was on stage with Rushdie. The sentences must run concurrently because both victims were injured in the same event, Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt told The Associated Press.