Salman Rushdie attacker sentenced to 25 years in prison

The man responsible for the brutal stabbing of renowned author Salman Rushdie has been sentenced to 25 years in prison following his conviction for attempted murder and assault earlier this year.

Hadi Matar, 27, attacked Rushdie in August 2022 during a literary event at the Chautauqua Institution in New York. The 77-year-old novelist was just beginning a talk on writer safety when Matar rushed the stage and stabbed him repeatedly in the head and torso. A second individual, who had been present at the event, was also injured in the attack.

Rushdie, who lost vision in one eye and sustained multiple critical injuries, later testified that he feared for his life in the moments after the stabbing. “I thought I was dying,” he told the court.

The author spent 17 days hospitalized in Pennsylvania, followed by more than three weeks in a New York rehabilitation facility.

Prosecutors had requested the maximum penalty of 25 years for the attempted murder charge, along with an additional seven years for the assault on the second victim. The judge issued the full 25-year sentence; however, sentencing for the second charge was not immediately confirmed.

Matar is also facing a separate trial on terrorism-related charges. Authorities allege he was motivated by a decades-old fatwa issued against Rushdie, who has faced threats since the publication of his controversial 1988 novel The Satanic Verses.