NEW YORK: The man who stabbed Salman Rushdie on stage at an event in New York said he was “surprised” to learn that the famous Indian-born author was still alive after the attack.
Hadi MatarRushdie, 24, said, 75, was “the assailant Islam“but did not confirm that his actions were due to an embargo imposed by Iran in the 1980s, dpa news agency reported.
Matar has pleaded not guilty through his attorney to charges stemming from the assault and is currently being held at the Chautauqua County Jail, in New York state.
He is due to appear in court again on Friday. Talk to New York Post In a video interview from prison, he said: “When I heard he was alive, I was surprised, I guess.”
Matar said he originally planned to go to the event at the Chautauqua Institute after seeing a tweet announcing Rushdie’s arrival.
“I don’t like that person. I don’t think he’s a good person. I don’t like him very much. He’s the one who attacked Islam, he attacked their beliefs, the belief system.”
Rushdie published his popular novel “The Satanic Verses” in 1988, which led to the then supreme leadership of Iran. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued an edict, or fatwa, calling for his death in 1989.
But Matar told the New York Post that he had only read “a few pages” of the book and did not say whether Fatwa inspired him.
“I respect Ayatollah. I think he’s a great person. That’s what I’m going to say about that,” he said.
It happened when the event moderator said his concern was with the writer “himself, but also his meaning in the world”.
Despite his “life-changing” injuries, his family said, the novelist retained his “common hot-tempered and defiant sense of humor”.
The author suffered liver damage as well as severed nerve damage in one arm and one eye, but was weaned off the ventilator on August 13.
Hadi MatarRushdie, 24, said, 75, was “the assailant Islam“but did not confirm that his actions were due to an embargo imposed by Iran in the 1980s, dpa news agency reported.
Matar has pleaded not guilty through his attorney to charges stemming from the assault and is currently being held at the Chautauqua County Jail, in New York state.
He is due to appear in court again on Friday. Talk to New York Post In a video interview from prison, he said: “When I heard he was alive, I was surprised, I guess.”
Matar said he originally planned to go to the event at the Chautauqua Institute after seeing a tweet announcing Rushdie’s arrival.
“I don’t like that person. I don’t think he’s a good person. I don’t like him very much. He’s the one who attacked Islam, he attacked their beliefs, the belief system.”
Rushdie published his popular novel “The Satanic Verses” in 1988, which led to the then supreme leadership of Iran. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued an edict, or fatwa, calling for his death in 1989.
But Matar told the New York Post that he had only read “a few pages” of the book and did not say whether Fatwa inspired him.
“I respect Ayatollah. I think he’s a great person. That’s what I’m going to say about that,” he said.
It happened when the event moderator said his concern was with the writer “himself, but also his meaning in the world”.
Despite his “life-changing” injuries, his family said, the novelist retained his “common hot-tempered and defiant sense of humor”.
The author suffered liver damage as well as severed nerve damage in one arm and one eye, but was weaned off the ventilator on August 13.
