A man was convicted Wednesday of federal terrorism charges in the 2022 stabbing of Salman Rushdie, the author who has faced a decades-old death threat over his novel “The Satanic Verses.”

A jury found Hadi Matar guilty of all the charges against him, including engaging in an act of transnational terrorism.

A message seeking comment was sent to Matar’s attorneys.

Matar, 28, is already serving a 25-year New York state prison sentence on an attempted murder conviction in the August 2022 attack on an amphitheater stage. The federal conviction carries a potential life sentence.

Rushdie, who was about to speak on writers’ safety, was slashed 15 times in front of a stunned audience. He was gravely wounded and lost the sight in his right eye.

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[–] 15 points 3 months ago

Interesting. I'm currently reading his book, Knife, about the attack.

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  • [–] 7 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    Those glasses he wears are badass

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  • [–] 6 points 3 months ago (4 children)

    Wait...so which part was terrorism? This seems like attempted murder.

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  • [–] 30 points 3 months ago (3 children)

    The supreme leader of Iran declared a fatwa calling for his execution in the late 80s after he published The Satanic Verses, which is a novel about the prophet Muhammad that is considered blasphemous by conservative Muslims.

    People have been trying to kill him in the name of Islam since. Mostly because the state of Iran has a $4 million USD bounty on his life, that is still on offer. Iranian state media does fundraisers to add to the pot every few years.

    The attempts on his life are meant to silence free speech across international boarders and further religious ideology.

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  • [–] 6 points 3 months ago (2 children)

    Thank you for that explanation but that actually makes sense

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  • [–] 2 points 3 months ago

    TIL. I assumed his Curb episode would be the last time I heard about him. I didn't even know this happened.

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    [–] 14 points 3 months ago

    Fuck religious fanaticism, or rather fanaticism in general.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 months ago (1 child)

    The Satanic Verses might not be one of my favorite books. I have my own criticism of some of the themes in the story, racism being first among them. But I don't think that spending a life looking over your shoulder is fair. And the fact that he has to do so is a more poignant critique of Islam than the book itself.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 months ago

    Dozens of people have been killed in retribution for the writing, publishing, and translating of this book. Either as direct targets, or collateral damage from assassination attempts

    Religious people are fucking insane. Christians and Muslims both called for the suspension of free speech to ban the book, across many countries. As far as I saw, the murders were all carried out by Muslims

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