Salman Rushdie attacker convicted of terror offenses

They also played videos made by Matar, 28, and interviewed Sir Salman on the witness stand about being stabbed 15 times, including to his cheek, chest, eye, neck and thigh."I was on the stage, lying down, with an enormous pool of blood all around me," he testified, adding: "It was an enormous and expansive lake of blood."He also lifted the darkened lens on his glasses to reveal the wound to his eye, which has left him partially-blinded, saying the attacker's knife came "within millimetres from my brain".Defense attorneys argued that Matar's attack was not motivated by terrorism, and questioned the author about whether he should have expected a backlash to his controversial 1988 novel The Satanic Verses."I don't believe the book is on trial," Rushdie responded. "Somebody else is on trial."Matar is already serving a 25-year year sentence after being convicted of attempted murder by a state court in 2025. He could now face life in prison in the federal conviction.Rushdie's novel, inspired by the life of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad, sparked outrage among some Muslims, who considered its content to be blasphemous.