‘Screaming because of the pain’: Salman Rushdie recounts stabbing at trial

American-Lebanese Hadi Matar, 23, is accused of attempting to termination The Satanic Verses writer successful frenzied 2022 attack.

Novelist Salman Rushdie has described the infinitesimal a knife-wielding attacker stormed connected signifier and attempted to termination him successful a frenzied onslaught that near him unsighted successful 1 eye.

The Satanic Verses writer connected Tuesday told jurors astatine the trial of his alleged attacker, 23-year-old American-Lebanese Hadi Matar, that Matar “was stabbing and slashing” astatine him.

“I was alert of this idiosyncratic rushing astatine maine connected my right-hand side,” helium said, recounting however helium was astir to talk astatine an arts lawsuit successful New York State successful August 2022.

“I lone saw him astatine the past minute.”

“It was a stab coiled successful my eye, intensely painful, aft that, I was screaming due to the fact that of the pain,” Rushdie said, adding that helium was near successful a “lake of blood”.

He said it “occurred to maine I was dying” earlier helium was stretchered retired of the taste centre and helicoptered to a trauma hospital.

On Tuesday, Rushdie nodded and waved astatine his wife, Rachel Eliza Griffiths, who was successful tribunal for her husband’s grounds connected the 2nd time of the trial.

Matar’s ineligible squad person sought to forestall witnesses from characterising Rushdie arsenic a unfortunate of persecution pursuing Iran’s 1989 issuing of a fatwa that called for his execution implicit expected blasphemy successful The Satanic Verses.

Matar is accused of stabbing Rushdie astir 10 times with a 6-inch (15cm) blade.

As helium did connected the trial’s opening day, Matar said, “Palestine volition beryllium free”, arsenic helium was led into tribunal Tuesday. He did not respond arsenic Rushdie began his evidence, biting his nails during the testimony.

Rushdie, who wore distinctive glasses polarised successful 1 lens to disguise his damaged eye, described his attraction and existent health.

“The injuries were precise superior and it took a agelong clip to recover… the gash [in my neck] was truthful deep, it had to beryllium held unneurotic with metallic staples,” helium said.

Matar antecedently told media helium had lone work 2 pages of The Satanic Verses but believed the writer had “attacked Islam”.

New York-based British-American Rushdie, present 77, was rescued by bystanders.

Venue worker Jordan Steves told the tribunal Monday however helium launched himself “with my close enarthrosis with arsenic overmuch unit arsenic I could manage” to assistance others subdue the attacker.

He pointed to Matar, sitting conscionable feet distant successful the ornate courtroom, erstwhile asked to place the attacker.

Steves’s workfellow Deborah Moore Kushmaul said she picked up the discarded weapon and gave it to police.

The optical nervus of Rushdie’s close oculus was severed, and helium told the tribunal that “it was decided the oculus would beryllium stitched unopen to let it to moisturise. It was rather a achy cognition – which I don’t recommend.”

Asked to picture the strength of the symptom implicit the attack, helium said it was “a 10” retired of 10.

His Adam’s pome was besides partially lacerated, and his liver and tiny bowel penetrated.

“The archetypal happening I said connected regaining the quality of code was, ‘I tin speak’,” helium said to stifled laughter from jurors.

“How bash you compression toothpaste onto a toothbrush with lone 1 hand?” helium explained erstwhile asked astir injuries to his manus received arsenic helium tried to support himself.

Rushdie lived successful seclusion successful London for a decennary aft the 1989 fatwa, but for the past 20 years – until the onslaught – helium lived comparatively usually successful New York.

He became the centre of a fierce tug-of-war betwixt escaped code advocates and those who insisted that insulting religion, peculiarly Islam, was unacceptable successful immoderate circumstances.

Last year, helium published a memoir, called Knife, successful which helium recounted the near-death experience.

One of Matar’s lawyers, Lynn Schaffer, said connected Monday that prosecutors would question to contiguous the lawsuit arsenic “open and shut” – but warned that constabulary had made assumptions astir Matar.

The accused reportedly became much withdrawn and hardline successful his outlook pursuing a 2018 travel to the Middle East.

The Iran-backed Lebanese equipped organisation Hezbollah had endorsed the fatwa, the FBI has said, and Matar faces a abstracted prosecution successful national tribunal connected coercion charges.

Iran has denied immoderate nexus to the attacker and said lone that Rushdie was to blasted for the incident.