Stabbing Salman Rushdie: Suspect in the accident charged with attempted murder
The US authorities have charged the suspect in the stabbing of writer Salman Rushdie with attempted murder.
Prosecutors said Hadi Matar, 24, appeared in court and was detained without bail.
At a cultural event in western New York, Matar ran to the staRushdie, 75, has faced death threats for years over his novel "The Satanic Verses"ge and attacked Rushdie and his interlocutor.
The Booker Prize-winning writer is in a critical condition.which some Muslims consid
Rushdie's agent said that the writer was put on a ventilator, was unable to speak, and might lose one of his eyes.
Authorities said Rushdie was stabbed at least once in the neck and stomach. His liver was also injured.
Henry Reese, the interviewer who was with Rushdie, sustained a minor head injury and was taken to a local hospital. Reese is a co-founder of a non-profit organization that provides sanctuary for exiled writers facing the threat of persecution.
The Indian-born novelist gained fame thanks to Midnight's Children, published in 1981, which has sold over a million copies in Britain alone.
But his fourth book, The Satanic Verses, published in 1988, forced him into hiding for nine years.
The novel, which belongs to the category of postmodern surrealism, aroused anger among some Muslims, who considered its content blasphemous. The novel has been banned in some countries.
A year after the book was published, then-Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini called for Rushdie's execution and offered a $3 million reward.
Violence erupted after the novel was published, causing the deaths of dozens of people, including translators of the novel.
The reward for killing Rushdie is still there. Although the Iranian government distanced itself from Khomeini's decree, a semi-official Iranian religious institution allocated an additional $500,000 in reward in 2012.
Rushdie, who holds both British and American citizenship, is known as a staunch defender of freedom of expression. He has defended his work on several occasions.
Literary events attended by Rushdie have been threatened and boycotted in the past. But he continued writing, and his next novel, City of Victory, is due to be published in February 2023.
er blasphemous.