Salman Rushdie is (a little) better. The agent of the novelist, hospitalized since Friday August 12, 2022 in a New York hospital after being attacked with a knife, gave his news to the American press. While he was previously on artificial respirator, after an emergency operation, he was disconnected. He was even able to say a few words.
Sunday August 13, after several hours of great concern, Andrew Wylie therefore gave news of his illustrious client. He confirmed that doctors removed his life support and he was able to speak briefly. However, he did not reveal the content of the remarks of Salman Rushdie, 75, who received more than a dozen stab wounds from his assailant, Hadi Matar. “Salman Rushdie has been taken off the ventilator and is talking!“said Michael Hill president of the Chautauqua institution, where the attack took place, on Twitter. According to the testimony of the writer Aatish Taseer, who also heard from his colleague, “he talked and joked“, he wrote on Twitter. Information reported by the New York Post.
But the state of health of Salman Rushdie, under the influence of a fatwa launched in Iran since the 1980s because of his book The Satanic Verses, remains a concern. His agent had indicated that he was at risk of losing an eye, that the nerves in his arm were severed and that his liver was stabbed and damaged. He won’t be out of the hospital for a long time.
Police have now taken their attacker into custody – motivated by the $3 million bounty against the perpetrator’s death? – which was presented to a court in the process. During a procedural hearing at the Chautauqua court, Hadi Matar, just 24 years old and originally from New Jersey, charged with “attempted murder and assault”, appeared in black and white striped prison uniform, handcuffed and masked , and did not say a word, according to the New York Times and photos from the local press. He has pleaded not guilty !