May 16 (UPI) — The man already found guilty of attempting to kill author Salman Rushdie was given the maximum-possible prison sentence on Friday in a courthouse in Mayville, N.Y.
The judge dismissed a motion from defense counsel for Hadi Matar to set aside the guilty verdict prior to handing down the sentence of 25 years in prison.
Following a two-week trial, a jury convicted Matar in February of second-degree attempted murder and assault for the 2022 attack on Rushdie during an on-stage lecture.
He also received seven years in prison for wounding another person on stage, with both sentences to be served concurrently. Matar has been in custody since the attack and will receive credit for time served.
Defense lawyer Nathaniel Barone said he plans to appeal the conviction. During the trial, Barone argued prosecutors failed to prove that Matar attempted to kill Rushdie.
Matar, who was born in the United States and is from New Jersey but also has Lebanese citizenship, jumped on stage and attacked the award-winning novelist, stabbing him with a knife.
The attack left Rushdie, 77, fighting for his life at the time and ultimately blind in one eye. He had been giving a lecture at the nonprofit Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, N.Y.
Rushdie testified during the trial, which also saw video footage of the attack.
Matar is still facing federal terrorism-related charges in Buffalo, where authorities contend he aided members of Hezbollah, giving financial help to the Iran-backed terrorist group.
During the trial, Matar at times yelled pro-Palestinian chants in the courtroom.
Rushdie, an Indian-born dual British-American, has faced death threats since publishing his 1989 novel The Satanic Verse, considered blasphemous by some Muslims.
Former Iranian religious leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini famously issued a fatwa, or religious ruling, calling for Rushdie’s death.
The author has recounted the incident in a 2024 memoir, Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder.
