Salman Rushdie is expected to take the stand in the trial of the man accused of attempting to kill him at a literary gathering in western New York in August 2022, more than 35 years after he was first placed under a death warrant by Iranian religious leaders.
Rushdie, 77, has agreed to testify for prosecution against Hadi Matar, 27, the man accused of assaulting him with a knife as he was about to address an open-air audience on a theme of shelter and home.
The encounter in Judge David Foley’s courtroom will bring Rushdie and Matar together for the first time since, prosecutors say, Matar dropped a bag containing assorted knives in his left hand as he approached the stage at the Chautauqua Institution amphitheater, and stabbed the author more than a dozen times with a 10in knife in his right.
Rushdie and fellow speaker Henry Reese, who is also named as a victim in Matar’s indictment, were so stunned that they initially remained seated, prosecutors say.
Matar, a dual US-Lebanese citizen, is accused of attempted murder and assault. He has pleaded not guilty. In opening statements, jurors heard from prosecutors that Matar “almost succeeded in killing Mr Rushdie”.
“Without hesitation, this man, holding his knife … forcefully and efficiently in its speed, plunged the knife into Mr Rushdie over and over and over and over again,” prosecutor Jason Schmidt said.
Matar’s defense team asked for a delay in the trial after Matar’s lead public lawyer, Nathaniel Barone, was taken ill. Assistant public defender Lynn Schaffer told jurors that prosecutors would be unable to prove Matar’s guilt, even using video recordings and photos.
“The elements of the crime are more than ‘something really bad happened’ – they’re more defined,” Shaffer said. “Something bad did happen, something very bad did happen, but the district attorney has to prove much more than that.”
A series of witness were called by prosecutors looking to place Matar at the crime scene. Chautauqua employee Jordan Steves said he saw a “violent interaction with someone swinging their arms at an onstage guest … ”
Absent to the case so far is any reference to the fatwa that called for Rushdie’s death that was Matar’s motivation, according to an interview he gave after his arrest. Prosecutors say they can secure a conviction without reference to it.
Matar is set to be tried on federal terrorism charges, where the issue of motivation will be hard to exclude. The charges allege Matar was motivated by an endorsement of the fatwa by Iran-backed group Hezbollah. On Monday, Matar said “Free Palestine” as he entered the courtroom.
A later trial on the federal charges – terrorism transcending national boundaries, providing material support to terrorists and attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization – will be scheduled in US district court in Buffalo.
Rushdie’s anticipated testimony is likely to focus on his direct experience of the alleged attack. But in an account published last year, Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder, he recounted how he had a premonition in a dream of of being attacked in an amphitheater.
The trial will last up to two weeks, the lawyers said.
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