Man accused of stabbing Salman Rushdie declines to give evidence in his defence
Hadi Matar is charged with attempted murder and assault over the attack which left the 77-year-old author blind in one eye.
The man on trial in the 2022 stabbing of author Salman Rushdie has declined to give evidence in his defence as his lawyers rested their case without calling any witnesses.
“No, I do not,” Hadi Matar, 27, said when asked by Chautauqua County Judge David Foley whether he wished to take the stand on Thursday.
Earlier on Thursday, prosecutors called a forensics expert as their final witness, wrapping up seven days of witness testimony, most notably from Mr Rushdie himself.
The lawyers are scheduled to deliver closing arguments on Friday, followed by jury deliberations.
Matar is on trial in Chautauqua County Court in western New York, US on charges of attempted murder and assault for the attack at the nearby Chautauqua Institution that left Mr Rushdie, 77, blind in one eye and with other serious injuries.
Throughout the trial, Matar, who is from Fairview, New Jersey, was often seen taking notes and speaking with his lawyers.
On several occasions while being brought in or out of the courtroom, he declared “Free Palestine” to news cameras.
But defence lawyers had declined to say whether he intended to give evidence.
Although Matar’s lawyers declined to call any witnesses of their own, they sought to challenge prosecution witnesses as part of a strategy intended to cast doubt on whether Matar intended to kill, and not just injure, Mr Rushdie.
The distinction is important for an attempted murder conviction.
Matar came armed with a knife, not a gun, lawyers said, and Mr Rushdie survived the stabbing, which they noted witnesses had described as a “skirmish” or “scuffle”.
“We’ve argued from the beginning that they have not, at least in our opinion, proven any type of intent to murder,” public defender Nathaniel Barone told reporters outside the courtroom.
Mr Rushdie was stabbed and slashed more than a dozen times in the head, throat, torso, thigh and hand in an unprovoked attack as he prepared to participate in a discussion about keeping writers safe.
He spent 17 days in a Pennsylvania hospital and more than three weeks at a New York City rehabilitation centre.
Matar also faces trial in US District Court in Buffalo on a separate indictment charging him with attempting to provide material support to the militant group Hezbollah.
