Sir Salman Rushdie was stabbed 12 times including in the face and neck, the district attorney’s office said | US News
Sir Salman Rushdie was stabbed about 12 times – including in the face and neck, the US district attorney’s office said.
The Chautauqua County District Attorney’s Office said one of the facial injuries punctured Mr. Salman’s eye.
Another, in the abdomen, punctured the author’s liver.
There were also multiple stab wounds to the abdomen and chest area.
The 75-year-old man was taken to the hospital and underwent several hours of surgery attack before a lecture he is giving in New York State on Friday afternoon.
Earlier on Saturday, the suspect plead not guilty to attempted murder.
Matar to court. Photo: AP
Hadi Matar24 years old, appeared in court in a black and white jumpsuit and white mask, hands cuffed in front of her face.
Attack
British-Indian writer Sir Salman was being introduced at the Chautauqua Institute when a man burst onto the stage and began stabbing him.
He fell to the floor as the suspect was crushed by spectators and staff.
Read more:
The world reacts to the stabbing of Sir Salman Rushdie
What do we know about the suspect?
Witness Julia Mineeva Braun told Sky News that a man “suddenly appeared from the left side of the stage … (dressed in) all black.
“Very quickly…we thought he was fixing his microphone, and then we saw the knife. He started stabbing his neck first…and Mr. Rushdie got up and started running. We are still in shock.”
Forbidden
Sir Salman, who lives in New York City and became a US citizen in 2016, is the speaker Henry Reese, from City of Asylum, a residency program for writers living in exile under threat threat of repression.
They are expected to discuss America’s role as a refuge for writers and other artists in exile and as a home for free creative expression.
His fourth book, The Satanic Verses, was banned in 1988 in several Muslim-majority countries, including Iran, after being deemed blasphemous by some.
In 1989, then-Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a decree or Fatwa, calling for the death of Sir Salman.
The author lived in exile for many years, but told a German magazine earlier this month he believes his life is “very normal today”.
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In 2017, Sir Salman Rushdie told Sky News that ‘the world has moved on’ and threats against him have ‘pretty much over’.
The hopeful Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s has called for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to be officially designated a terrorist organization after the brutal attack.
He told the Sunday Telegraph the stabbing was a “wake-up call for the West”.
The Iranians responded with both praise and anxiety about the attack.
‘I’m glad he was attacked’
Reza Amiri, a 27-year-old delivery man in Tehran, told the AP news agency: “I don’t know Salman Rushdie, but I’m glad to hear that he was attacked for insulting Islam.
“This is the fate for anyone who offends holiness.”
Others, however, expressed concern that Iran could be cut off even further from the world as tensions remain high over its tattered nuclear deal.
Mahshid Barati, a 39-year-old geography teacher, said: “I feel like the people who do that are trying to isolate Iran. “This will negatively affect relations with many people – even Russia and China.”
