Salman Rushdie is foreseeed to get the stand in the trial of the man accincluded of endeavoring to end him at a literary collecting in weserious New York in August 2022, more than 35 years after he was first placed under a death permit by Iranian religious directers.
Rushdie, 77, has concurd to testify for prosecution aobtainst Hadi Matar, 27, the man accincluded of attacking him with a knife as he was about to insertress an discdissee-air audience on a theme of shelter and home.
The greet in Judge David Foley’s courtroom will convey Rushdie and Matar together for the first time since, prosecutors say, Matar dropped a bag grasping assorted knives in his left hand as he approached the stage at the Chautauqua Institution amphitheater, and stabbed the author more than a dozen times with a 10in knife in his right.
Rushdie and fellow speaker Henry Reese, who is also named as a victim in Matar’s indictment, were so stunned that they initiassociate remained seated, prosecutors say.
Matar, a dual US-Leprohibitese citizen, is accincluded of endeavored killing and attack. He has pdirected not at fault. In discdisseeing statements, jurors heard from prosecutors that Matar “almost flourished in ending Mr Rushdie”.
“Without hesitation, this man, helderlying his knife … forcefilledy and effectively in its speed, plunged the knife into Mr Rushdie over and over and over and over aobtain,” prosecutor Jason Schmidt shelp.
Matar’s defense team asked for a postpone in the trial after Matar’s direct accessible lawyer, Nathaniel Barone, was getn ill. Assistant accessible deffinisher Lynn Schaffer telderly jurors that prosecutors would be unable to show Matar’s guilt, even using video sign upings and pboilingos.
“The elements of the crime are more than ‘someleang reassociate terrible happened’ – they’re more detaild,” Shaffer shelp. “Someleang terrible did happen, someleang very terrible did happen, but the dimerciless attorney has to show much more than that.”
A series of witness were called by prosecutors seeing to place Matar at the crime scene. Chautauqua includeee Jordan Steves shelp he saw a “aggressive conveyion with someone striumphging their arms at an onstage guest … ”
Absent to the case so far is any reference to the overweightwa that called for Rushdie’s death that was Matar’s motivation, according to an intersee he gave after his arrest. Prosecutors say they can protected a conviction without reference to it.
Matar is set to be tried on federal radicalism accuses, where the publish of motivation will be difficult to leave out. The accuses allege Matar was driven by an finishorsement of the overweightwa by Iran-backed group Hezbollah. On Monday, Matar shelp “Free Palestine” as he go ined the courtroom.
A rescheduleedr trial on the federal accuses – radicalism transcfinishing national boundaries, providing material help to alarmists and endeavoring to supply material help to a alarmist organization – will be scheduled in US dimerciless court in Buffalo.
Rushdie’s awaitd testimony is awaited to cgo in on his straightforward experience of the alleged strike. But in an account unveiled last year, Knife: Meditations After an Atlureed Murder, he recounted how he had a premonition in a dream of of being strikeed in an amphitheater.
The trial will last up to two weeks, the lawyers shelp.
