BUFFALO, N.Y. — Nearly four years after a knife attack left him fighting for his life on a stage, acclaimed author Salman Rushdie returned to a courtroom Thursday to face his convicted attacker once again — this time testifying before a federal jury in Buffalo at Hadi Matar’s terrorism trial.
Rushdie described the moment the assault began, recalling that he initially thought he had been punched beneath his chin, unaware in those first seconds that he was actually being stabbed.
“I was on the stage, lying down, with an enormous pool of blood all around me,” Rushdie told the jury. “It was an enormous and expansive lake of blood.”
Jurors watched intently as the 79-year-old author testified, at one point taking off his glasses to show the eye that was left permanently blind by the attack. Matar has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges.
Matar was previously convicted at the state level on an attempted murder charge stemming from the 2022 assault, which occurred at a cultural institution where Rushdie had been scheduled to speak on the dangers faced by writers and artists. Federal prosecutors contend the attack was an act of terrorism, rooted in a 1989 call by an Iranian leader for Rushdie’s death — a fatwa issued in response to his novel “The Satanic Verses.”
“I can’t say what his ambitions or his aim was, but the wounds were dispersed across my body,” Rushdie testified.
Composed and measured throughout his roughly one hour on the stand, Rushdie walked jurors through the attack and its aftermath. The stabbing blinded him in one eye, caused significant liver damage, and severed nerves in his arm. He also described the long process of relearning everyday tasks during his recovery. Rushdie had previously spoken about the attack at Matar’s state trial, in a memoir, and in media interviews.
Matar, 28, kept his gaze down at the defense table when Rushdie began his testimony. He occasionally rested his chin on his hand or leaned over to speak quietly with his attorney, but did not look toward the witness stand — though he did watch Rushdie as the author exited through a door. Rushdie, for his part, barely glanced in Matar’s direction.
Defense attorneys for Matar have argued that prosecutors cannot establish what was in his mind at the time of the attack — a critical point given that the terrorism charge hinges on proving the assault was motivated by allegiance to Iran’s government and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group.
When Matar’s attorney asked Rushdie whether he believed the defendant had ties to terrorism, the author responded: “I had no knowledge, but I had my suspicions.”
Matar faces charges including engaging in an act of transnational terrorism. He is currently serving a 25-year state prison term and could face a life sentence if convicted in the federal case.
The fatwa against Rushdie was issued in 1989 by Iran’s late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who declared that Rushdie should be killed over “The Satanic Verses.” The novel contains a dream sequence involving Islam’s Prophet Muhammad that some Muslims viewed as blasphemous. The book triggered widespread and sometimes violent protests, and Rushdie — who was born into a Muslim family — was forced into hiding for years as a result.
Defense attorney Barone asked Rushdie on Thursday whether he had expected backlash from the book. “Probably, but I don’t believe the book to be on trial here. I believe someone else is on trial,” Rushdie replied. The judge granted Barone’s request to strike that comment from the official court record.
Prosecutors say Matar was also motivated in part by statements made in 2006 by the late Hassan Nasrallah, a former Hezbollah leader, regarding Rushdie and the fatwa. Matar was born in the United States but also holds Lebanese citizenship — Lebanon being the country where Hezbollah is based. Matar’s mother has said that a trip he took to Lebanon in 2018 left him noticeably moody and withdrawn upon his return.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Lynch, who delivered an opening statement Wednesday, Matar began researching Rushdie in 2020 and eventually wrote to himself, “We need to kill him ASAP.” Lynch said Matar framed the killing as part of what he considered a jihad, or holy war.
Investigators found photos and other materials in Matar’s New Jersey bedroom and on his electronic devices showing his admiration for Hezbollah. He was also found carrying a fake driver’s license bearing a name similar to that of a Hezbollah figure, Lynch said. The U.S. government classifies Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.
Matar chose not to testify at his state trial, but his attorney said outside court Thursday that he may take the stand at the federal proceeding.
Rushdie was born in India and raised in Britain, and is now an American citizen. He won the Booker Prize in 1981 for his novel “Midnight’s Children.” His most recent work, “The Eleventh Hour” — a collection of short stories and novellas — was published last year.
Iran’s government denied any involvement in the 2022 stabbing, though the Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson at the time suggested Rushdie had brought trouble upon himself by insulting Islam. Hezbollah’s Nasrallah made no public comment about the attack.
