 |
|
| Salman Rushdie (photo: Elena Ternovaja) |
|
Hadi Matar, who was convicted of trying to stab Salman Rushdie to death in 2022, was sentenced to 25 years in prison last Friday for the attack that critically injured the author and left him blind in one eye. The New York Times reported that Judge David W. Foley, who presided over the case in Chautauqua County court, told Matar his assault had been against not only a man, but also the right to free expression.
"It goes to the very heart of what our country stands for," said the judge, adding that the sentence was necessary to prevent Matar from committing additional attacks, whether against Rushdie or someone else.
Matar had been found guilty in February of trying to kill Rushdie as the author was preparing to give a talk at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, N.Y. The trial, which was held in Mayville, N.Y., lasted less than two weeks and jurors deliberated for under two hours before returning their verdict, the Times noted.