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Salman Rushdie taken off ventilator and speaking, his attacker pleads not guilty: Here is what we know so far

Salman Rushdie News: The 75-year-old author who was is currently hospitalised in Erie, Pennsylvania, was taken off a ventilator and able to talk on Saturday, informed Rushdie's agent Andrew Wylie.

Mirror Now Digital

Updated Aug 14, 2022, 09:08 IST

Salman Rushdie (File Photo)

Photo : IANS

New York: Salman Rushdie, the India-born author who was stabbed in the neck and abdomen at a literary event in New York, the United States on Friday, was taken off the ventilator today and he is now able to speak, Rushdie’s agent Andrew Wylie confirmed the latest development of Saturday.

Here is what we know so far about the attack on Salman Rushdie and his attacker:

The 75-year-old author who is currently hospitalised in Erie, Pennsylvania, was taken off a ventilator and able to talk on Saturday, informed Rushdie's agent, Andrew Wylie without offering further details. Rushdie’s fellow author Aatish Taseer tweeted on Saturday evening that he was "off the ventilator and talking (and joking)."
Rushdie had already undergone hours of surgery and is likely to lose one eye. Wylie had also earlier said that the nerves in one of the novelist's arms were severed and his liver was damaged.
The suspect identified as 24-year-old Hadi Matar from New Jersey pleaded not guilty to attempted murder in the second degree and other charges in a New York court on Saturday. Matar was arraigned in centralised arraignment on Saturday and was remanded without bail at Chautauqua County Jail.
However, the prosecutor called that attack a "preplanned" crime. "This was a targeted, unprovoked, preplanned attack on Mr. Rushdie," said District Attorney Jason Schmidt. Matar appeared in court wearing a black-and-white jumpsuit and a white face mask, with his hands cuffed in front of him.
“On August 12, 2022, the Bureau of Criminal Investigation arrested Hadi Matar, 24 of Fairview, NJ for Attempted Murder 2nd degree (B Felony) and Assault 2nd degree. Matar was processed at SP Jamestown and transported to Chautauqua County Jail. Matar was arraigned in centralized arraignment on August 13, 2022, and was remanded without bail at Chautauqua County Jail," the New York State Police said in a statement.
According to New York police, on August 12, 2022, at about 10.47 am, a male suspect later identified as Hadi Matar, 24 of Fairview, NJ ran up onto the stage and attacked Salman Rushdie, 75. Rushdie suffered an apparent stab wound to the neck and chest and was transported by helicopter to an area hospital. His condition is not yet known.
The New York State police further stated that the co-speaker for the event, Ralph Henry Reese, 73 also suffered a minor head injury in the attack. The staff members of the Chautauqua Institution and guests went on stage to assist in holding down the suspect. A State Trooper assigned to the event was next to the stage and took the suspect into custody.
US President Joe Biden said on Saturday in a statement that he and first lady Jill Biden were "shocked and saddened" by the attack. "Jill and I were shocked and saddened to learn of the vicious attack on Salman Rushdie yesterday in New York. We, together with all Americans and people around the world, are praying for his health and recovery," Biden said in the statement.
Rushdie caught the limelight for his novel 'Midnight's Children' in 1981. His fourth book 'The Satanic Verses', published in 1988 led to a fatwa, a religious decree, by the then Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini over the book's 'blasphemous' content. The threat forced him into hiding for nine years.
The Indian-origin writer was receiving multiple death threats from Islamic groups over his book 'The Satanic Verses'. In a recent interview before the attack, Rushdie said that his life was now "relatively normal".