Attorneys said that Salman rushdie’s plans to write a book about a failed assassination attempt in 2022 may delay the start of the trial for his alleged attacker scheduled to begin this week.
Hadi Matar is entitled to receive the manuscript as well as related materials as part of the preparation for his trial, Chautauqua County judge David Foley stated during a pre-trial conference.
SALMAN RUSHDIE MAKES RARE APPEARANCE AFTER ATTACK TO WARN ABOUT ENDING FREEDOM OF SPEECH
Foley gave Matar’s attorney and Matar until Wednesday to decide whether they want to postpone the trial until the book is in their hands, either from the publisher in advance or when it is released in April. After court, defense attorney Nathaniel Barone stated that he was in favor of a delay and would consult Matar.
The jury selection process is set to begin on January 8.
Barone stated, “It is not the book alone.” “Every little note Rushdie wrote down, I get, I’m entitled to. “Every discussion, recording, or anything else he did with regard to this book.”
Rushdie, who suffered a left-hand injury and a blinding in his right eye in the August 20, 2022 attack announced in October that the memoir “Knife : Meditations after an Attempted Murder” was available for preorder. The trial preparations were already underway when the attorneys in the case heard about the book.
District Attorney Jason Schmidt stated that Rushdie had refused the prosecutor’s request for a manuscript, citing the intellectual property rights. Schmidt played down the importance of the book in the upcoming trial given that Rushdie could testify and the attack was witnessed live by a large audience.
Schmidt claimed that there were recordings of the assault.
Matar, 26 of New Jersey, has been detained without bail ever since he was arrested immediately after Rushdie, an author, was stabbed before a shocked audience at Chautauqua, a summer arts retreat in western New York.
Schmidt said Matar had a “mission” to kill Rushdie when he ran from the audience onto the stage, stabbed Rushdie more than 12 times and was subdued.
The motive for the attack has not been revealed. Matar said that Rushdie had “attacked Islam” in an interview he gave to The New York Post from a jailhouse after his arrest. Matar praised the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ayatollah Khomeini.
Rushdie, 75 years old, spent many years in hiding. Khomeini had issued an edict (fatwa) in 1989, which called for his death following the publication of “The Satanic Verses,” a novel that some Muslims consider to be blasphemous. Rushdie has been able to travel freely for the last two decades.
Matar is a dual citizen of the United States and Lebanon. His parents are both born in Lebanon. Matar’s mother said that after he visited his father in Lebanon, in 2018, her son became withdrawn and moody.