25 years in prison for Matar: Rushdies dramatic struggle for survival!

25 years in prison for Matar: Rushdies dramatic struggle for survival!

Chautauqua, New York, USA - Hadi Matar was sentenced to 25 years in prison on May 16, 2025, after committed a fatal attack on the renowned writer Salman Rushdie in August 2022. Matar stabbed rush at least ten times, which led to serious injuries. The author, who suffered a severing of the optic nerve through the assassination attempt, is blind on one eye. Despite overwhelming evidence, including numerous eyewitnesses and video recordings, Matar advocated innocent and rejected all allegations [ Krone ].

The process brought a variety of emotions with it for rush. He described that he had the feeling of dying during the attack and described Matar as a person with "dark, wild eyes". Although the circumstances were dramatic, Rushdie did not want to testify in the courtroom and avoided looking at Matar. After the attack, Rushdie was dependent on medical care for weeks and described the act as "very painful and dangerous" [ Krone ].

background of the crime

The motive for the attack could be in a further process for terrorism that Matar threatens. Historically speaking, the case of Rushdie is in the context of a FATWA from 1989, which Iranian revolutionary leader Ajatollah Khomeini issued because of Rushdie's book "The Satanian Verse". This was considered against Islam and led to a global hunting for rushdie, which still has an impact today. Khomeini asked Muslims to kill rushdie, which made him a goal for extremists [ wikipedia ].

Salman Rushdie, born in Bombay (now Mumbai), is an internationally known author, whose career with the book “Mittnachtenkinder” (1981) culminated, which won the Booker Prize. However, his work "The Satanian Verses" (1988) brought the greatest controversy and put it under constant threats, which were also reinforced by head money that were exposed to it. These constant threats caused rush to live under police protection for many years and had to change his lifestyle drastically to ensure his survival [ wikipedia ].

Current developments

After the attack in 2022, Rushdie began working on another autobiographical work that is scheduled to appear in 2024. Again and again it is emphasized how much the attack has affected its state of health, since it now has limited functionality in his writing hand and continues to fight with the physical and psychological consequences of the attack. In April 2023, Rushdie released his novel "Victory City", who plays in India in the 14th century and shows his remarkable ability to remain creative despite all the adversities [ wikipedia ].

Overall, the situation around Salman Rushdie and the reactions to the act of Hadi Matar remains an urgent example of the dangers that writers and artists sometimes encounter in modern societies, especially if their works trigger controversy. The judgment against Matar could be seen as a step towards justice, while the debate about freedom of expression and the security of creative people continues [ Krone ].