Sir Salman Rushdie has expressed satisfaction after his attacker received the maximum possible prison sentence for the brutal 2022 stabbing that left the celebrated author permanently disabled, per bbc.com.
Hadi Matar, 27, was sentenced to 25 years for attempted murder after repeatedly stabbing Rushdie during a lecture at a New York venue. The vicious assault left the Booker Prize-winning writer blind in one eye, with liver damage and a paralysed hand from severe nerve injuries.
“I was pleased that he got the maximum available, and I hope he uses it to reflect upon his deeds,” Rushdie told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
The attack came 35 years after Rushdie’s controversial novel The Satanic Verses sparked global death threats for its portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad. Despite living under the shadow of violence for decades, Rushdie had gradually returned to public appearances before the shocking assault.
The author has channelled his trauma into creativity, publishing Knife last year—a reflective work he describes as “my way of fighting back.” The book features an imagined conversation with his attacker, brought to life through AI animation by late BBC filmmaker Alan Yentob.
Rushdie was also paying tribute to Yentob, who died Saturday at 78. The pair shared a close friendship, with Yentob even convincing Rushdie to participate in a comedic arm-wrestling scene for BBC’s mockumentary W1A.
“He was a very strong ally in bad times,” Rushdie said of the broadcasting legend.
This November, Rushdie will release The Eleventh Hour, a short story collection marking his first fiction work since the life-changing attack.
