Salman Rushdie to face alleged attacker in court room

Prosecutors will begin to tell a jury how Hadi Matar allegedly staked out the venue where Salman Rushdie was giving a talk before stabbing the Satanic Verses author, blinding him in one eye.

Matar, a 27-year-old Lebanese-American, is on trial for attempted murder and assault over the August 12, 2022 attack at an literary event in Chautauqua in western New York state.

He is accused of stabbing Rushdie about 10 times, leaving him in grave condition, without sight in his right eye and unable to use one hand.

Eyewitnesses described the scene as the writer collapsed in a pool of blood.

The Indian-born writer, a naturalised American based in New York, has faced death threats since his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses was declared blasphemous by Iran’s supreme leader.

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa in 1989 calling on Muslims anywhere in the world to kill the Booker Priz-winning author. He placed a $US3 million ($4.8 million) bounty on his head for publishing the controversial book.

Hezbollah endorsed the fatwa, the FBI has said.

Matar had told the New York Post newspaper that he had only read two pages of Rushdie’s novel but believed the author had “attacked Islam.”

Rushdie, now 77, suffered stab wounds in the neck and abdomen before attendees and guards could subdue the attacker, later identified by police as Matar.

Matar will be tried in Chautauqua County Court, with the world’s media descending on the small town of Mayville to follow the case, where Rushdie is also expected to appear

The defendant, who has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, also faces a separate trial for terror charges in Federal court.

Prosecutors are expected to focus on the mechanics of the brazen attack and the bountiful video and eyewitness evidence, rather than Matar’s ideological motivation .

The attack is also the central theme of Rushdie’s latest book, Knife.

The entire attack, lasting 27 seconds, was caught on video and is expected to be played in court when the trial begins on Monday (local time).

Matar, who refused a plea deal and faces up to 25 years in prison, was subdued by event attendees and has remained in custody ever since.

Jury selection concluded last week, with 12 jurors chosen from a pool of 27 candidates, all of whom acknowledged familiarity with the case but affirmed they could remain impartial despite the defendant’s strong religious beliefs.

Court officials have enforced strict secrecy around Rushdie’s testimony to mitigate security risks, while the Chautauqua County Court has issued protective orders to prevent juror identities from being leaked.

Meanwhile, Matar’s defence lawyer, Nathaniel Barone, has argued for due process, unsuccessfully requesting the trial be moved out of Chautauqua, where the attack happened, citing alleged bias from the town’s predominantly white population toward Middle Eastern people.

“No matter what I have already written or may now write, I will always be the guy who got knifed. The knife defines me. I will fight a battle against that, but I suspect I will lose,” Rushdie writes in his book.

“Why didn’t I fight? Why didn’t I run? I just stood there like a pinata and let him smash me,” Rushdie wrote.

“It didn’t feel dramatic, or particularly awful. It just felt probable ... matter-of-fact.”