Overview
- Federal trial in Buffalo moved to questions of motive after opening statements July 22 and July 23, with Salman Rushdie testifying Thursday about the attack and showing jurors his sightless right eye.
- Prosecutors say Matar acted to “fulfil the fatwa” issued in 1989 and had sympathy for Hezbollah, citing journals, sticky notes, photos of Iranian leaders and material from his electronic devices.
- The defense says prosecutors cannot prove Matar’s intent or that he acted on behalf of any terrorist group and has challenged the scope and admissibility of digital evidence.
- Matar is already serving a 25-year New York state sentence for the 2022 attempted murder and faces federal counts that require proof of transnational terrorism and could carry a life term if convicted.
- The case revives the long-running fatwa against Rushdie and highlights lasting human consequences of the attack, which left Rushdie blind in one eye, with liver and nerve damage that altered his daily life and work.