Richter expresses prison sentence for rushdie assassin Hadi Matar!

Richter expresses prison sentence for rushdie assassin Hadi Matar!

New York, USA - On May 15, 2025, a court in New York announced the sentence for Hadi Matar, who had attacked the renowned writer Salman Rushdie in August 2022. Matar was guilty of attempted murder in February 2023 and faces a possible prison sentence of up to 32 years. According to OE24 Stach Matar during a reading more than a dozen times on Rushdie, which the media and the literary world put into turmoil.

The attack was the result of decades of tensions, which began with the publication of Rushdie's novel “The Satanian Verse” in 1988. This work led to a Fatwa by the Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who called for the murder of Rushdies. From that moment on, the British-Indian author, born in 1947 in Bombay, lived under constant threat. Khomeini's successor, Ali Khamenei, also confirmed the killing call.

rushdies literary heir

Salman Rushdie is not only known for "The Satanian Verse", but also for numerous other works such as "Midnight’s Children", which marked his breakthrough as a writer. These texts address central questions of postcolonial literature, such as memory, migration and the hybridity of language and identity. Despite the constant threat of Islamist extremists, Rushdie remained literary and processed the experiences of his underground life in his book "Joseph Anton".

In April 2024, Rushdie published another book entitled "Knife: Thoughts after an attempt to murder", in which he reflects the terrible incident. The attack on him has not only influenced his life, but also the understanding of art, freedom and religion in the modern world.

contextualization of violence

The events around Rushdie are part of a greater cultural and political struggle. The blasphemy allegations against him not only led to calls for murder, but also to a wave of violence against translators and publisher of his works. A deadly assassination attempt on the Japanese translator H. Igarashi in 1991 illustrates the serious consequences of these controversy.

rushdie has lived in various countries and under police protection since the 1980s, since it was in mortal danger at any time. His works and his fate continue to encourage discussions about the limits of freedom of expression and the dangers that can arise from religious fanatics. The whole situation illustrates how important it is to deal with the topics of identity, culture and religion in order to promote a better understanding in an increasingly polarized world.

The gradation of the dangers that was exposed to rush and the art of reaction to such threats remain central issues in discussions about freedom and security in literary work. In this respect, Salman Rushdie's life and work remains an important example of the challenges that authors have to face in today's global climate. Information on this can be found in the Islam-Lexikon of the Federal Center for Political Education.