Opening statements set in trial of man accused of trying to kill Salman Rushdie
Lawyers are scheduled to deliver opening statements Monday at the trial of the man charged with trying to fatally stab author Salman Rushdie.
MAYVILLE, N.Y. — Lawyers are scheduled to deliver opening statements Monday at the trial of the man charged with trying to fatally stab author Salman Rushdie in front of a lecture audience in western New York.
Rushdie, 77, is expected to testify during the trial of Hadi Matar, bringing the writer face-to-face with his knife-wielding attacker for the first time in more than two years.
Rushdie, who wrote “Midnight’s Children” and “Victory City,” had been about to speak about keeping writers safe from harm in August 2022 when Matar ran toward him on the stage at the Chautauqua Institution Amphitheater. Matar stabbed Rushdie more than a dozen times in the neck, stomach, chest, hand and right eye, leaving him partially blind and with permanent damage to one hand.
The Indian-born British-American author detailed the attack and his long, painful recovery in a memoir, “Knife: Meditations After and Attempted Murder,” released last year.
Matar, 27, of Fairview, New Jersey, is charged with attempted murder and assault. He has pleaded not guilty. A jury was selected last week. Matar was in court throughout the three-day process, taking notes and consulting with his attorneys.
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