Man accused of stabbing Salman Rushdie rejects plea deal involving terrorism charge

Man accused of stabbing writer Salman Rushdie has his case dismissed a plea agreement On Tuesday, that would have shortened his state prison sentence but would have exposed him to a federal terrorism-related charge, the suspect's lawyer said.

Hadi Matar, 26, has been held without bail since the 2022 attack, in which he is accused of stab rushdie more than a dozen times and blinding him in one eye as the acclaimed writer stood on stage, about to deliver a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York.

Matar's attorney, Nathaniel Barone, confirmed that Matar, who lived in Fairview, New Jersey, rejected the deal Tuesday in Mayville, New York.

The deal would have required Matar to plead guilty in Chautauqua County to attempted murder in exchange for a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, instead of 25 years. It would also have required him to plead guilty to a federal charge of attempted material support for a designated terrorist organization, which could carry an additional 20 years, the attorneys said.

Rushdie, who detailed the attack and its recovery in a memoirhad spent years in hiding after the Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwaor decree, in 1989 calling for his death because of Rushdie's novel “The Satanic Verses,” which some Muslims consider blasphemous. The author resurfaced in the late 1990s and has traveled freely over the past two decades.

Matar was born in the United States but holds dual citizenship in Lebanon, where his parents were born. His mother said her son became withdrawn and moody after visiting his father in Lebanon in 2018.

Rushdie wrote in his memoirs that he saw a man running toward him in the lecture hall, where he was about to speak about the importance of protecting writers. on the witness list for Matar's upcoming trial.

Representatives for Rushdie did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.