Sir Salman Rushdie told the Court that he thought he was dying after he was stinging on stage several times two years ago, leaving him blindly in one eye.
The renowned British-Indian author gave evidence at the trial of his alleged attacker, 27-year Hadi Matar, who pleaded not guilty of an accusation for the attack and attempted murder.
The procedure takes place on New York Court in New York, from which Lord Salman was attacked 12. August 2022. years, because he would soon talk about how American refuge for exile writers.
The attack occurred after Sir Salman spent years in hiding due to threats to his life after his novel, 1988. Satanic verses were published.
Warning: This story contains favorable details
Prosecutors, who did not specify the motive for the sting, called Salman to the stand as the first witness on Tuesday morning, asking him to recall the moments before and after the attack.
The 77-year-old said the jury that he sat on the stage on the day ready to address the audience in the prestigious Chautauqua institution.
Shortly after Sir Salman said he said he had said he noticed a person rushing on him on the right.
The attacker described as if she wore dark clothes and a face mask and said he hit the eyes of an individual, “which were dark and looked very ferociously”.
Sir Salman said the first blow to the right jaw and his neck felt and thought at first he hit her. Then he saw blood poured into his clothes.
“At that moment, he hit me several times, stabbed and mowed me,” the author said, adding that the incident took place in a few seconds.
Sir Salman told the court that he hit a total of 15 times, with wounds in the eyes, cheek, neck, chest, torso and thigh.
His left hand is stabbing and when he tried to defend himself.
The wound knife on his eye was the most good, he said.
At one point he took off his glasses, which he disguised right around dark lenses, to reveal the scope of injury.
“As you can see, that’s what’s left of her,” he said to the jury. “There is no vision in the eye at all.”
As Sir Salman, who wore a dark suit, he submitted his testimony, Mr. Matar often had his head, with which the two of them never appear to not appear.
Sir Salman’s wife, Lady Rushdie, cried from his seat in the second row as her husband recounted the incident.
He took care of his safety since the announcement of Satan verses, his surrealist, a postmodern novel who is inspired by the life of Muslim Prophet Muhammad.
While the recognition and rewards in the western world was fulfilled, many Muslims considered that the blasphests and some countries banned. The Iranian religious leader issued Fatwa called the author’s death for the book.
Ta Fatwa – a religious regulation – caused Sir Salman to face countless threats of death. He was forced to hide nine years and he just started traveling when Iran said he wouldn’t spend the law.
Two weeks before the attack, the author told the German magazine to live a “relatively normal” life because the threats were reduced.
But the attack on Salman’s Sirman in Chautauqua, New York, broke that sense of security.
The writer told the court on Tuesday that in moments after that, “it made it clear to me that I was dying – it was my predominant thought.”
He also described the feeling like it lies in the “Lake Blood”.
He reminded that observers, including members of the audience, a submitted attacker.
“And thanks to that, I survived,” Sir Salman said.
The author told the jury that he messed in the trauma center, where he received treatment for his injuries in 17 days.
Mr. Matar was arrested at the scene.
The suspect lawyer, Lynn Schaffer, examined Si Salman and asked him if he could trust his memory of events given the trauma he served.
The author replied that the trauma can amend the memory of people, but he added that he was sure he was wounded 15 times.
“After that I could see (wounds) in my body,” he said. “I didn’t need anyone to tell me.”
He asked if he had ever had a contact with the suspect before the attack, Sir Salman replied that he was not. He also said his attacker did not say anything.
Even more witnesses are expected to be invited to the stand in the coming days, including a surgeon, which acted on Salman, as well as law enforcement officers who answered the attack.
2025-02-11 19:26:00
