Celebrated author Salman Rushdie testified today against Hadi Matar, who is accused of stabbing him in August 2022.
Matar, who was charged with attempted murder, pleaded not guilty. Rushdie was blinded in one eye in the attack and spent months recovering from the effects.
Jurors heard opening statements earlier Monday at the trial in New York, followed by testimony from employees of the art institution where the attack occurred, while Rushdie delivered a speech.
The trial is expected to last up to two weeks. Jurors are expected to be shown a video recording, as well as photographs of the attack.
They will not hear about the fatwa issued by the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini calling for Rushdie's death, said District Attorney Jason Schmidt. Rushdie spent years in hiding after Khomeini issued a fatwa in 1989 for publishing The Satanic Verses, a novel that some Muslims consider blasphemous.
Schmidt said that a discussion of Matar's motive would be unnecessary at the state trial, given that the attack was seen by a live audience that was present to hear Rushdie's speech.
Schmidt said during his opening statement on Monday that "Matar attacked Rushdie unprovoked." On the other hand, the public defender representing Matar told jurors that the case is not as simple as prosecutors have presented it.
In a separate indictment, federal authorities allege that Matar was coerced into action by a terrorist organization that welcomed the fatwa in 2006. That trial on federal terrorism charges will be held in U.S. District Court in Buffalo.
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