The man accused of attacking and stabbing the author Salman Rushdie in 2022 in New York has been charged with new federal terrorism charges.
Hadi Matar, 26, was indicted by a grand jury on three counts including attempting to provide material to support a foreign terrorist organization, committing terrorism transcending national boundaries for the stabbing of Rushdie, and providing material to support terrorists, according to court documents.
The indictment, filed in the US district court in Buffalo and unsealed on Wednesday, alleges that Matar knowingly attempted to “kill, and did knowingly maim, commit an assault resulting in serious bodily injury, and assault with a dangerous weapon”.
The document also accuses Matar of knowingly attempting “to provide material support and resources” to Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group backed by Iran, and alleges that he had engaged and was engaging in terrorist activity. The indictment does not detail or outline the evidence linking Matar to the militant group or the charges.
It has been almost two years since Rushdie was attacked on stage during a literary event in Chautauqua, New York, in August 2022. Rushdie, who was 75 at the time, was at the Chautauqua Institution to speak about the importance of America giving asylum to exiled writers when he was attacked by a man who rushed on stage and stabbed him multiple times.
Authorities at the time said that Rushdie suffered three stab wounds to the right front of his neck, another four to his stomach, one each to his right eye and chest, and a cut to his right thigh. Rushdie, who lost sight in one eye as a result of the attack, was taken to hospital where he underwent surgery.
Matar, of Fairview, New Jersey, was arrested immediately after the attack and charged with one count of attempted second-degree murder for the stabbing and one count of second-degree assault on a man who shared the stage with Rushdie at the time of the attack.
Shortly after the attack, Matar pleaded not guilty to the state charges of attempted murder and assault. A judge ordered Matar, who was born in the US but holds dual citizenship in Lebanon, to be held without bail.
The new federal terrorism charges come just weeks after Matar reportedly rejected a plea deal that would have shortened his prison term but exposed him to a federal terrorism-related charge, according to the Associated Press.
The agreement would have had Matar plead guilty in Chautauqua county to attempted murder in exchange for a maximum state prison sentence of 20 years, instead of the 25 years he is facing, per the AP. Attorneys told the outlet that he would have also been required to plead guilty to a federal charge of attempting to provide material support to a designated terrorist organization, which could have resulted in an additional 20 years.
Matar’s attorney, Nathaniel Barone, did not immediately return a phone message from the Guardian seeking comment about the new federal terrorism charges on Wednesday afternoon.
But, Barone told the Associated Press on Wednesday that Matar planned on denying the accusations in the indictment. “He plans on proceeding with a vigorous defense and maintain his innocence,” Barone said.
Earlier this year, Matar’s trial was postponed due to the publication of Rushdie’s memoir about the attack. Rushdie’s memoir – Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder – recalls the attack in his own words.
The federal and state cases will proceed to trial separately, according to AP, with jury selection in the state case set for 15 October.
In 1989, Iran’s then leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie’s death in the aftermath of the publication of the novel The Satanic Verses, which was deemed blasphemous. Rushdie spent years in hiding, and later re-emerged into the public.
