Breaking:
Matar, Attacker of Salman Rushdie, sentenced to 26 years imprisonment
By Yadnom Awu/ Asaba
A jury in New York, America, today sentenced renowned author and Islamic fundamentalism critic, Salman Rushdie, to 25 years in prison.
The jury found Hadi Matar to prison for the violent attack on Rushdie, who lost an eye to the assault at a New York Cultural Centre.
Matar was found guilty of second degree murder and is to undergo five years of post – imprisonment supervision.
He was also sentenced to seven years for assault, and three years post – imprisonment supervision.
It took the jury two hours to reach judgment on the matter which was brought after the August 12, 2022 attack in which Rushdie was stabbed 25 times on the face, the neck and his torso.
Matar was found guilty in February this year but the sentencing had been reserved till today.
In his 20s, Matar is said to be a sympathiser of Lebanon- based Hezbollah ( party of God) which is allegedly funded by Iran, and is regarded by the West and Israel as part of what they term Axis of Evil, but which anti- West interests call the Axis of Resistance
Hezbollah , like Iran and other Islamist groups, had pronounced the fatwa ( the death sentence, mainly for blasphemy) when Rushdie, more than 35 years ago, wrote a critical novel about Islam.
The work, titled The Satanic Verses, was banned in many Muslim societies , but Iran and its allies, if late, relaxed their call for the implementation of the fatwa, thus encouraging Rushdie to put up some public appearances during one of which he was attacked.
Rushdie had said that he thought he was about to die during and shortly after the attack
