A US citizen, Matar is also facing a federal trial on terrorism charges. The charges were evoked after prosecutors claimed that the stabbing was an attempt to carry out a decades-old fatwa issued in 1989 by Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after the publication of Rushdie’s controversial novel, The Satanic Verses.
The man who stabbed acclaimed author Salman Rushidie during a 2022 lecture in New York has been sentenced to 25 years in prison. Hadi Matar, 27, was convicted of attempted murder in February. Rushdie did not attend Friday’s sentencing but submitted a victim impact statement. He had previously testified, recounting the harrowing moment he believed he was going to die.
Matar stabbed Rushidie over a dozen times in the head and torso as the author prepared to speak at the Chautauqua Institution. The brutal assault left Rushdie, 77, blind in one eye and seriously injured. He also injured one more person.
Ahead of sentencing, Matar made a brief statement criticizing Rushdie and invoking free speech. He received 25 years (maximum punishment) for the attack on Rushdie and seven years for injuring the other victim. The sentences will run concurrently, as both injuries occurred during the same incident, said Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt.
During arguments, Schmidt said that Matar had deliberately planned the attack to cause maximum harm — not just to Rushdie, but to the audience of over 1,400 people present. Defense attorney Nathaniel Barone countered that Matar had no prior criminal record.
The 2002 incident had left Rushdie blinded by one eye. He spent nearly five weeks in hospitals and rehabilitation centers following the attack. He later detailed his recovery in his 2024 memoir, Knife.
A US citizen, Matar is also facing a federal trial on terrorism charges. The charges were evoked after prosecutors claimed that the stabbing was an attempt to carry out a decades-old fatwa issued in 1989 by Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after the publication of Rushdie’s controversial novel, The Satanic Verses.
Matar has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of providing material support to terrorists.
