Salman Rushdie’s attacker convicted in federal court for terrorism
In a New York courthouse the man who stabbed famed author Sir Salman Rushdie is found guilty of helping a terrorist group called Hezbollah.
The jury said he acted on a fatwa, a religious decree from Iran’s chief cleric in 1989 that called for the writer’s death, and was urged by Hezbollah’s 2006 speech to enforce that call.
Rushdie gave the court a powerful testimony describing the 15 stabs, the emergency help that saved his life and how the knife hit close to his ear, threatening blindness.
Defenders argued the attack was about the controversial novel, not terrorism. Rushdie responded, “Somebody else is on trial.”
If convicted, he could face a life sentence on top of his 25‑year state prison term.
