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Hadi Matar Faces Sentencing for 2022 Stabbing of Salman Rushdie

Prosecutors seek maximum prison terms as Rushdie's attacker prepares for state sentencing and an upcoming federal terrorism trial.

FILE - Hadi Matar sits in Chautauqua County court in Mayville, N.Y., Feb. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus, file)
Author Salman Rushdie poses during a photocall ahead of the presentation of his book "Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder" at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin, Germany, May 16, 2024. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch/File Photo

Overview

  • Hadi Matar, convicted in February of attempted murder and assault for stabbing Salman Rushdie, will be sentenced today in New York state court.
  • Prosecutors are requesting maximum concurrent sentences of 25 years for attacking Rushdie and seven years for injuring a second man during the 2022 incident.
  • Matar's attack left Rushdie blind in one eye and required extensive medical treatment and rehabilitation, as described in the author's 2024 memoir, 'Knife.'
  • Authorities argue Matar acted on a 1989 fatwa calling for Rushdie's death, allegedly supported by Hezbollah and endorsed in 2006 by its leader Hassan Nasrallah.
  • Following state sentencing, Matar faces a federal trial on charges of providing material support to terrorists and engaging in terrorism transcending national boundaries.