🔸Possibility of life imprisonment for Salman Rushdie attacker accused of a terrorist act

Hadi Matar, the attacker of Salman Rushdie who is serving his 25-year sentence in a prison in New York, was found guilty in another court on terrorist charges; a charge that could lead to life imprisonment for him.

In 2022, during a stabbing attack on Salman Rushdie at one of his speaking engagements in New York, the 28-year-old Hadi Matar assaulted this famous writer and caused him to lose part of his eyesight. A court in New York last year convicted Matar and sentenced him to 25 years in prison.

After two hours of deliberation on Wednesday, July 30, a jury in a New York court found Matar guilty on all counts, including an allegation of attempting to provide material support to Hezbollah, Lebanon. The United States has classified this Iran-backed group as a terrorist organization, transnational in nature, and providing material support to terrorists.

During the latest trial, prosecutors argued that he carried out the attack under the influence of, and inspired by, an order and fatwa by Khomeini. Evidence presented in court indicates that in the years 2021 and 2022, Matar had been discussing, in messaging apps, with anger the necessity of carrying out this fatwa.