New York: The suspect in the attack on Salman Rushdie, Hadi Mater, was indicted by a grand jury
The young Islamist who tried to assassinate Rushdie admitted that he was surprised that the writer survived the attack, saying that he was “not a good person”, meanwhile Iran denies the act, and blames Rushdie himself and his readers for the horrific attack
A New Jersey man who stabbed author Salman Rushdie before he spoke at a literary event in Chautauqua, N.Y., last week has been indicted by a grand jury on charges of attempted second-degree murder.
Eddie Matter, 24, appeared at a hearing last night, (Wednesday) afternoon in Chautauqua County Court.
Matter was arrested on August 12 after stabbing Rushdie several times in front of thousands of shocked people in the crowd.
The attack sent Rushdie to the hospital with severe injuries, including a damaged liver and severed nerves in his arm.
It is also believed that Rushdi may lose an eye as a result of his severe injuries. The initial charges were filed the next day, when Mater’s lawyer on behalf of the court pleaded guilty on his behalf, and this while the prosecutor’s office did not immediately publish the new charges.
Rushdi’s life has been in danger since 1989, when Iran’s supreme leader at the time, Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued an order or “fatwa” demanding his death due to the novel The Satanic Verses, which was considered blasphemous by many Muslims.
As part of his pursuit, an official foundation of the Iranian government posted a reward of over 3 million dollars on his head.
Mater said in an interview from prison that he had only read a few pages of the controversial book and added that Rushdie “attacked Islam” and was not a “good person”.
Mater also said he was surprised that Rushdie survived the attack – Iran, for its part, claimed it was not involved in the attack on the Indian-born writer.
“We, in the incident of the attack on Salman Rushdie in the US, do not see that anyone deserves to bear the blame, except Rushdie and his supporters,” said the spokesman of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Nasser Kanani.
“No one has the right to blame Iran in this context.”
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