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Salman Rushdie’s plan to publish his memoir Knife (Jonathan Cape), which is based on his experience being stabbed in 2022, could delay the trial of Hadi Matar, the man charged with his attack.
Matar allegedly stabbed Rushdie repeatedly as he was about to give a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in New York, leaving him blinded in his right eye and injured in his left hand.
In a pretrial conference, Chautauqua County judge David Foley said that Matar is entitled to the manuscript for his preparation ahead of the trial. According to defence attorney Nathaniel Barone, Matar is also entitled to all other materials that Rushdie used to write the book, including recordings and notes.
The trial, for which jury selection was due to begin next week, could be delayed as a result. The judge gave Matar and his attorney until later today, Wednesday 3rd January, to decide whether they want to delay until they get access to the book. They could be given the book ahead of publication by the publisher or wait for its publication on 16th April 2024.
Rushdie’s representatives have declined to provide a copy of the manuscript due to intellectual property rights concerns, according to district attorney Jason Schmidt, who said that the attack was witnessed by an audience, and that Rushdie could testify.