The man accused of stabbing Salman Rushdie will not be able to see the author’s private notes related to the attack, the Associated Press reports.
Hadi Matar is charged with attempted murder and assault in connection with the 2022 stabbing of Rushdie, who was attacked as he was preparing to give a lecture at a nonprofit education center in Chautauqua, New York. Rushdie was stabbed multiple times; the attack cost him the use of one hand and one eye.
In April, Random House published Rushdie’s memoir about the attack, Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder. In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus called the book “a graceful meditation on life and death that captures Rushdie at his most observant and lyrical.” A documentary based on the book, directed by Alex Gibney, is in the works.
The legal team for Matar had demanded that Rushdie and Random House turn over the author’s notes related to the memoir, but Chautauqua County Judge David Foley ruled that the author and the publisher did not have to do so, saying that the defense lawyers could find the information they were seeking from the book itself.
Matar’s trial is scheduled to commence this fall, the AP reports, with jury selection beginning on Oct. 15. If convicted, Matar could face up to 25 years in prison.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
