Judge orders suspect held without bond
HOUSTON, Texas
Hadi Matar, the man accused of stabbing award-winning author Salman Rushdie in the US state of New York, pleaded not guilty Thursday to multiple offenses.
Matar, 24, was indicted by a grand jury on second-degree attempted murder and assault. The judge in the case ordered him held without bail.
“His mission to kill Mr. Rushdie is greater in his mind and outweighs his personal freedom,” District Attorney Jason Schmidt said in court, according to the Buffalo News.
If convicted, prosecutors said the attempted murder charge carries a penalty of up to 25 years in prison. The assault charge, which pertains to another speaker injured by Matar, carries up to seven years.
Rushdie was about to give a lecture last Friday at the Chautauqua Institution when a man jumped on stage and stabbed him repeatedly. The author suffered stab wounds to his neck, stomach, chest and right eye.
Witnesses said there were no obvious security checks at the lecture and that Matar did not speak as he attacked Rushdie.
Matar was arrested by a New York State Police trooper after being subdued by audience members.
Investigators have not released a motive for the attack.
Matar has said that he respects the late Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini, who issued a death fatwa against the Indian-born British author after Rushdie wrote the 1988 satirical novel, The Satanic Verses, which many Muslims considered sacrilegious and spawned death threats against Rushdie.
Matar professed his loyalty in a video released Wednesday by the New York Post.
“I respect the Ayatollah. I think he’s a great person,” he said.
He did not say if the attack was inspired by Khomeini’s fatwa, saying he had only “read a couple of pages” of The Satanic Verses.
“I don’t like (Rushdie) very much,” Matar said. “He’s someone who attacked Islam, he attacked their beliefs, the belief systems.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Monday that Tehran should not be accused of being involved in the attack.
Police believe Matar acted alone.
The judge ordered Matar to have no contact with Rushdie and agreed to a request by his defense attorney to issue a temporary gag order in the case.
