Salman Rushdie suspect Hadi Matar charged with attempted murder: pro-Iran posts probed

Salman Rushdie has been taken off the ventilator and is making jokes; Hadi Matar charged with attempted murder as authorities probe pro-Iran posts.

Salman Rushdie has been taken off a ventilator and is able to talk, after being stabbed more than a dozen times while giving a speech about freedom of expression in New York.

Fellow author Aatish Taseer told US media the acclaimed British novelist was “off the ventilator and talking (and joking.” Rushdie’s agent, Andrew Wylie, confirmed Mr Taseer’s comment without offering further details.

The positive news comes as the man accused of stabbing the acclaimed British novelist at a lecture series was charged with attempted murder and assault.

Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old from Fairview, New Jersey, allegedly jumped on to the stage at the Chautauqua Institution on Friday and attacked Rushdie moments after he was introduced to the crowd, police said.

Appearing in court in New York, on Friday (Saturday AEST), Mr Matar entered a not guilty plea.

“This was a targeted, pre-planned unprovoked attack on Mr. Rushdie,” Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt told the court. He said Rushdie suffered three stab wounds to the right side of his neck; four in the stomach; a puncture wound to his right eye, which he may lose; three puncture wounds to his chest; and a laceration to his right thigh.

Mr Schmidt said the suspect bought a pass to the educational institute two days before Friday’s event and arrived at least a day before it.“He didn’t bring a wallet. He had cash, pre-paid Visa cards with him. He had false identification with him,” he said.

The motive behind the attack remains unclear but initial analysis of Mr Matar’s social media showed it contained posts in support of Iran and its revolutionary guard, law enforcement sources told The New York Post.

Before the attack, Matar is reported to have spent the night at the Athenaeum hotel, in the grounds of the Chautauqua Institution, according to the Post. He is also said to have dined at the hotel’s Heirloom restaurant where the fixed menu costs $62 for three courses, according to the Post. When arrested, Matar was allegedly carrying a fake driving licence with the surname of a Hezbollah commander, US media reports.

Rushdie, the target of a 1989 Iranian fatwa calling for his death, had said recently he was beginning to enjoy a normal life again.

Police outside the hour of attack suspect Hadi Matar. Picture: Getty Images.

Iran media hail attack

The Iranian ultraconservative newspaper Kayhan on Saturday hailed Mr Matar as “courageous and duty-conscious” after the attack.

The attack happened more than 30 years after he went into hiding following former supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s fatwa over publication of his book The Satanic Verses. He is also likely to lose an eye.

New York State Police said Rushdie was stabbed at least once in both the neck and abdomen. The 75-year-old was taken by helicopter to the nearest trauma hospital and immediately went into surgery, police said.

“Bravo to this courageous and duty-conscious man who attacked the apostate and depraved Salman Rushdie in New York,” wrote the paper, whose chief is appointed by current supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“Let us kiss the hands of the one who tore the neck of the enemy of God with a knife,” the daily said.

With the exception of reformist publications including Etemad, the majority of Iranian media followed a similar line, describing Rushdie as an “apostate”.

The bestselling author was about to speak at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua when a man rushed onstage and assaulted him, according to police.

Police said a motive for the attack was not immediately known.

Rushdie, 75, was about to speak at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, when a man rushed onstage and assaulted him, according to people who were in the audience.

A state trooper assigned to the event arrested the suspect.

Mr Matar’s family apparently came from a border village called Yaroun in southern Lebanon. An AFP reporter who visited the village Saturday was told that that Matar’s parents were divorced and his father -- a shepherd -- still lived there. Journalists who approached his father’s home were turned away.

Mr Matar was “born and raised in the US,” the head of the local municipality, Ali Qassem Tahfa, told AFP.

Iranian authorities have yet to make any official comment on the stabbing attack against Rushdie.

A man rushed on stage to attack Rushdie.

Rushdie, 75, was propelled into the spotlight with his second novel Midnight’s Children in 1981, which won international praise and Britain’s prestigious Booker Prize for its portrayal of post-independence India.

But his 1988 book The Satanic Verses transformed his life when the late Khomeini issued a religious decree ordering his killing.

In 1998, the government of Iran’s reformist president Mohammad Khatami assured Britain that Iran would not implement the fatwa.

But Khamenei said in 2005 he still believed Rushdie was an apostate whose killing would be authorised by Islam.

Rushdie was attacked on Friday at a lecture series in southwestern New York.

New York State Police said Mr Rushdie appeared to have been stabbed in the neck. He was taken by helicopter to an area hospital.

“The news is not good,” the New York Times quoted agent Andrew Wylie as saying. “Salman will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was stabbed and damaged.”

Police said a state trooper assigned to the event took the suspect into custody. Charles Savenor, a rabbi from New York City, said he was about 23m from the stage when the attack occurred.

Rushdie came on stage with fellow speaker Henry Reese, co-founder of the City of Asylum residency program for writers living under threat of persecution, to a sustained round of applause, Rabbi Savenor said. Their discussion, slated to begin at 10.45am, was going to focus on the US as a place of asylum for writers and other artists in exile and as a home for freedom of creative expression.

As the two took their seats, a man rushed onto the stage and threw himself at the author, said Rabbi Savenor, who serves as executive director of Civil Spirit, an organisation that promotes civic education in faith-based schools.

“He began to pound on Mr Rushdie … I just saw his arm going up and down, like pounding him,” Rabbi Savenor said. “We didn’t know what was going on,” he said. “But it was clear that this was real, and we were watching an assailant attack a presenter.”

Daniel and Susan Stern, regular attendees of the Chautauqua Institution, witnessed the chaotic scene from the sixth row.

When Rushdie stood to try to get away from the assailant, Mr Stern said he saw blood on the author’s face.

“The assailant jumped on him again when he stood up,” Mr Stern said. As security rushed the stage, both men ended up on the floor, he said.

Police didn’t respond to inquiries about Mr Reese’s condition, but in a statement said the event interviewer had a minor head injury.

In this photo taken on February 17, 1989, Iranian women are seen holding banners during a demonstration against Salman Rushdie in Tehran. Picture: AFP

A spokesman for the cultural centre said it is co-ordinating a public response with law enforcement before releasing additional details about the assault.

Rushdie lived for years under the protection of the British secret service after his third novel, The Satanic Verses caused an uproar among some Muslims, who called it blasphemous.

The attack on Mr Rushdie came less than a week after a story about him appeared on the Iranian government’s official online news site, calling the fatwa against him “an unforgettable verdict for Muslims in the world.” It described the reward still offered for killing him.

“After 33 years, Salman Rushdie lives with the nightmare of death that will never leave him,” the story read.

Rushdie was born in Bombay, now known as Mumbai, but also grew up in the UK. He has lived in the US for about two decades, serving as president of the nonprofit free-speech group PEN America and teaching at Emory University and New York University.

His writing career began in the 1970s, and he has since written novels, nonfiction anthologies, a memoir, and children’s literature. He won the Booker Prize for Midnight’s Children, his second novel, and became known for a magical realist style and for his staunch defence of freedom of expression. He was awarded a British knighthood in 2007.

Suzanne Nossel, chief executive of PEN America, said the literacy and advocacy organisation was reeling from Friday’s attack.

“While we do not know the origins or motives of this attack, all those around the world who have met words with violence or called for the same are culpable for legitimatizing this assault on a writer while he was engaged in his essential work of connecting to readers,” she said in a statement.

“Salman Rushdie has been targeted for his words for decades but has never flinched nor faltered,” she added. “He has devoted tireless energy to assisting others who are vulnerable and menaced.”

Ms Nossel said the author had been in touch with her earlier Friday about helping Ukrainian writers in need of refuge.

AFP/Dow Jones