The trial of Hadi Matar, accused of stabbing author Salman Rushdie, may be postponed due to Rushdie's upcoming memoir about the incident, "Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder." The defense is entitled to review the manuscript, which could contain relevant information for the trial. Jury selection is set to start soon, but the defense is considering requesting a delay to obtain the memoir content. Rushdie was severely injured in the August 2022 attack, which occurred decades after a fatwa was issued against him following his book "The Satanic Verses." The memoir is seen by Rushdie as a way to respond to the violence with art.
The trial of Hadi Matar, accused of stabbing author Salman Rushdie in 2022, has been postponed due to the upcoming release of Rushdie's memoir about the attack. The defense team seeks to review the book, claiming it could be relevant evidence. The attack left Rushdie with severe injuries, including blindness in one eye. The trial was set to begin in January in New York but is now delayed as the defense prepares to subpoena the manuscript. The incident follows a history of threats against Rushdie since the publication of his book "The Satanic Verses" in 1988.
Salman Rushdie's upcoming memoir, "Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder," detailing his near-fatal stabbing in August 2022, may cause a delay in the trial of his alleged attacker, Hadi Matar. The defense has been granted the opportunity to review the book, which is not yet published, potentially postponing the trial set to begin with jury selection on January 8. Matar, who has been held without bail, is accused of the attack that severely injured Rushdie, resulting in the loss of an eye and other serious injuries. The incident occurred at the Chautauqua Institution, and Matar was apprehended on-site. The defense argues for access to all materials related to Rushdie's memoir, while the prosecution has been denied an advance copy due to intellectual property rights. The judge has given Matar's attorney until a pre-trial conference to decide on seeking a delay.
The trial of Hadi Matar, accused of stabbing author Salman Rushdie, may be postponed due to Rushdie's upcoming memoir about the attack, "Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder." The defense is entitled to the manuscript for trial preparation, and a decision on the delay will be made soon. Rushdie, who was severely injured in the August 2022 attack, has written about the experience, but his representatives have declined to provide the manuscript, citing intellectual property rights. The trial was set to begin with jury selection on January 8, but the publication of Rushdie's memoir in April could impact the proceedings. Matar has praised the late Ayatollah Khomeini and has been held without bail since the attack.
