New York, July 30, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Hadi Matar, the man convicted of stabbing acclaimed author Salman Rushdie during a literary event in New York, has now been found guilty on federal terrorism-related charges, bringing him closer to the possibility of a life sentence.
A federal jury on Wednesday convicted the 28-year-old of acting in support of Iran’s long-standing fatwa against Rushdie and providing assistance to a terrorist organisation. Prosecutors argued that Matar carried out the 2022 attack in furtherance of the death decree issued by Iran’s former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989 over Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses, which was deemed blasphemous by Iran’s religious establishment.
The jury also accepted the prosecution’s argument that Matar had links to the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. As part of its case, prosecutors presented photographs showing Matar wearing clothing associated with Hezbollah and a propaganda video featuring speeches by Khomeini and a Hezbollah leader.
Matar was previously convicted in a New York state court of attempted murder and is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence. Under the US legal system, separate prosecutions in state and federal courts are permitted when different laws are involved. His federal sentencing is scheduled for November, where he could face life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
During the trial, Matar’s defence did not dispute that he had attacked Rushdie but argued that he acted independently rather than under the direction of Iran or Hezbollah. His lawyer maintained that Matar’s actions were driven by personal outrage over what he viewed as blasphemy.
Rushdie, now 79, was attacked while preparing to speak at the Chautauqua Institution in New York on the importance of protecting writers. The assault left him with life-altering injuries, including the loss of vision in his left eye, severe damage to his left hand and injuries to his liver.
Testifying during the proceedings, Rushdie recalled finding himself in “an enormous and expansive lake of blood” immediately after the attack. He later chronicled his recovery and reflections on the incident in his memoir Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder.
The Booker Prize-winning author spent years under British government protection after the fatwa was issued but later resumed public life and has since been based in New York.
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