Hadi Matar, is the only one accused of stabbing the writer Salman Rushdie; this Thursday he returned to declare himself “innocent”. Photo: AFP
The accused of the writer stabbed Salman Rushdie was declared “innocent” of attempted murder and assault charges, in a hearing held Thursday in a court in upstate New York. He will continue in temporary prison.
Hadhi Matar (24 years old) reiterated, through his lawyer, his statement of innocence of the charges he faces for breaking into the stage of a literary event in the town of Chautauqua and stabbing the British writer 10 times last Friday, both in the neck and abdomen, which nearly cost him his life.
The 24-year-old was arrested soon after, and this Thursday he went before a judge to hear the charges brought against him by a grand jury, a common figure in this type of criminal case.
Hadi Matar denied a New York media any connection with Iran. Photo: AFP
Matar is the only one targeted by the NYPD. The suspect had already pleaded not guilty during a procedural hearing last Saturday and on Thursday reiterated his innocence.
Now, the court has ruled that the accused continue in temporary prison and without the possibility of bail. A request that the prosecutor had already made.
The accused denied having any contact with Iran.
In a brief interview granted Wednesday by the prison to the New York Post, Matar said so did not like it to the English writer for having “attacked Islam”; Even if he recognized it I had just read a couple of pages of “The Satanic Verses”, the book for which the author has earned Muslim enmity.
In the interview, Matar assured him was not “in contact with Iran” and, on the advice of his lawyer, he avoided saying whether he had been inspired by the ‘fatwa’ (religious decree) of Ayatollah Ruholá Khomeini.
“I respect Ayatollah. I think he is a great person. That’s all I will say on the matter,” said the young defendant, the son of Lebanese immigrants and a resident of the state of New Jersey.
On Rushdie, he said he spent some time watching his YouTube videos: “I’ve seen a lot of chatter. I don’t like fake people“, he said of the writer, whom he described as” someone who attacks Islam, attacks its beliefs, its system of belief. “
The British writer has feared for his life since he published the controversial book “The Satanic Verses” in 1988, as his work was the subject – during the following year – of an Iranian Islamic regime fatwa, which condemned him. to death.
Rushdie’s state of health
For these hours Rushdie remains in serious condition in a Pennsylvania hospital.
Details of his health condition are scarce since the attack, but his son told the press that he no longer needs assisted breathing and on Tuesday it emerged that he had been “eloquent” when he was interviewed by police officers.
With information from AFP and EFE
Source: Clarin
