Hadi Matar, the individual responsible for the 2022 stabbing of author Salman Rushdie, is set to stand trial for a second time. While Matar is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence following his conviction last May for attempted murder and assault at the state level, he now faces federal charges of providing material support to terrorists and committing an act of transnational terrorism. If convicted on these new counts, the 28-year-old could face a life sentence.
The federal trial is scheduled to begin in Buffalo, New York, on Wednesday, situated approximately 70 miles from the Chautauqua Institution where the attack occurred. In August 2022, Rushdie was preparing to speak on the topic of writers in political exile when he was stabbed more than a dozen times. The 79-year-old author, who survived the incident, suffered lasting nerve damage and the loss of one eye. Rushdie is expected to testify during the proceedings, which are projected to last about two weeks.
A central element of the prosecution's case is the allegation that Matar acted in alignment with the 1989 fatwa issued by the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, which called for Rushdie's death following the publication of his novel, The Satanic Verses. Prosecutors also contend that Matar, a US-Lebanese dual citizen born in California, acted in service of the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah. Investigators reportedly discovered photographs of Khomeini and his successor, Ali Khamenei, in Matar's New Jersey home.
Evidence presented by investigators includes electronic devices and a personal journal containing detailed research on executing the attack, including notes that weighed the urgency of the situation given Rushdie’s age. Court filings further allege that in the months leading up to the stabbing, Matar circulated propaganda videos—including a 2006 speech by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah—and maintained contact with an individual in Iran who claimed to know Rushdie's location. Matar allegedly inquired whether the fatwa remained active.
Relatives have noted that Matar became increasingly withdrawn following a visit to his father in Lebanon in 2018. While Iran has denied direct involvement in the 2022 attack, the original fatwa was never formally withdrawn. Rushdie, who moved to Britain from India at age 14 and won the Booker Prize in 1981 for Midnight's Children, recently documented his experience in the 2024 memoir, Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder.
