Salman Rushdie started talking after the assassination attempt | News from Germany about world events

British writer Salman Rushdie, who was severely injured in a knife attack, is showing signs of improvement. The 75-year-old author, who is in a clinic in Erie, Pennsylvania, is disconnected from the ventilator and began to speak, The New York Times reports on Sunday, August 14, citing Rushdie’s agent Andrew Wylie.

Rushdie assault suspect in court

Meanwhile, investigations are ongoing into the alleged assailant, 24-year-old New Jersey resident Hadi Matar. He was arrested without bail and charged with attempted murder. In court in New York, he refused to plead guilty. The motives of Rushdie’s attacker, who was born in California to Lebanese parents, are still unknown. The NBC New York television channel, citing sources in the investigation, said that the activity of the accused in social networks indicates his sympathies for the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Shiite extremism, while direct contacts with the Iranian leadership have not yet been identified.

The assassination attempt on Rushdie is condemned around the world

The assassination attempt on Salman Rushdie was condemned worldwide as an attack on freedom of speech. In a statement released on August 13, US President Joe Biden said that Rushdie and his work embody universal ideals. “Truth. Courage. Resilience. The ability to fearlessly share ideas. These are the building blocks of any free and open society,” he stressed.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell tweetedthat “international condemnation of such criminal acts that violate fundamental rights and freedoms is the only way to a better and freer world.” German Interior Minister Nancy Feather blamed Rushdie, including the Iranian authorities, who have been persecuting the writer and threatening him with death for decades.

Attack on Salman Rushdie

On August 12, Salman Rushdie, 75, was stabbed in the neck and stomach when he was attacked on stage before starting a performance at the Chautauqua Institute in New York State. The male attacker was captured by the attendees of the event and handed over to the police, his motives are still unknown. Rushdie was taken by helicopter to the hospital and operated on. According to his agent, the writer is likely to lose one eye, he also received injuries to his hand and liver.

Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses, written in 1988, caused indignation among many Muslims who saw the book as an insult to the Prophet Muhammad. Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini publicly cursed Rushdie in his fatwa and sentenced him to death. A multi-million dollar reward was announced for Rushdie’s head in Iran. For a long time the writer was forced to hide, his book was banned in a number of countries. For several years, Rushdie was under constant guard by agents of Scotland Yard. In 2002, the British government received tacit guarantees from Iran for the writer’s safety, and the protection was removed.

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