For more than 30 years under the threat of death from Iran and Islamic extremism, Salman Rushdie is in danger of losing an eye after being stabbed at a literary festival in New York State.
The author of the "Satanic Verses" underwent a lengthy surgery after being transported by helicopter to the hospital and is now attached to a respirator , with severe damage to his arm and liver .
THE ASSALER - A 24-year-old from New Jersey, Hadi Matar, was arrested for the attack, but it is not yet clear the reason for such a violent attack against the writer for years in the crosshairs of fundamentalists and Ayatollah Khomeini who, year after the publication of the famous book considered by one part of Islam to be "blasphemous", he offered a bounty of $ 3 million as a reward for his death .
Faced with accusations of attempted murder, the young man pleaded not guilty. In court he appeared in a black and white jumpsuit and a white mask. He was handcuffed.
"The news is not good. Salman is attached to a respirator, at the moment he is unable to speak ," said the writer's agent, Andrew Wylie, after the surgery which lasted several hours, clarifying that the situation for the writer stabbed in the neck and abdomen is more serious than it appeared. "He's probably going to lose an eye , the nerves in his arm have been severed and his liver has been injured and damaged ," he told The New York Times.
THE ATTACK - The attack took place at 10.45 am local time (4.45 pm in Italy), shortly after Rushdie had taken the stage of the Chautauqua Institution, a hundred kilometers from Buffalo, to give a conference. Hadi Matar , who according to the witnesses was wearing a black mask , got up from the audience , jumped on the stage and rushed on the writer hitting him "in the neck and at least once in the abdomen", according to the police reconstruction.
Also impressed was the moderator of the conference , Ralph Henry Reese, who was discharged from the hospital a few hours later.
"It all took place in a matter of seconds," said a witness who was seated in the audience. "It was covered in blood , dripping onto the floor," he said. "I saw blood around his eyes and dripping down his cheek."
The writer was immediately rescued by a doctor present in the room and was then transported by helicopter to the hospital.
The motive for the attack remains unknown , the FBI is also collaborating in the investigation.
In the evening, a crowd of onlookers and neighbors gathered in front of the attacker's home in Fairview, New Jersey, but were turned away by the police who closed the road.
THE REACTIONS - "We condemn all forms of violence and we want everyone to have the freedom to speak and write the truth," said the governor of the State of New York , Kathy Hochul immediately after the attack, praising the policeman who intervened immediately after the assault on the writer. "It saved his life," he said. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned the attack . "Horrified that Salman Rushdie was stabbed while exercising a right we should never stop defending," he tweeted. "Right now my thoughts are with his loved ones. We all hope he is well."
Emmanuel Macron assured that France "is alongside Rushdie" . "His fight is ours," the French president wrote on Twitter. Solidarity with the author was expressed by the whole literary world and by many writers. Stephen King hoped that Rushdie was "okay", while JK Rowling called the attack "horrible news". "I'm very sick, let's hope he's fine", wrote the author of the Harry Potter saga on Twitter. PEN America, the nonprofit that works to defend and celebrate freedom of expression, called the aggression "brutal and premeditated". "We cannot think of any incident comparable to this violent public attack on a writer on American soil," said a statement from the organization, underlined the managing director, Suzanne Nossel, who said that Rushdie had sent her a 'email a few hours before the attack offering help for the Ukrainian authors. "We believe that his essential voice cannot and will not be silenced".
(Unioneonline / vl)