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Rushdie's attacker pleads 'not guilty'

18 August 2022 23:29 (UTC +04:00)

Salman Rushdie's attacker, 24-year-old Hadi Matar pleaded "not guilty" to the charges of attempted murder in the second degree and assault on Thursday, during a hearing in the Chautauqua County district court, APA reports citing Teletrader.

Matar's plea comes a day after he stated that he respects the late Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini , who issued a fatwa on the author in 1989, but refused to comment whether he was inspired by the Ayatollah, saying simply that Rushdie "disrespected Islam."

Salman Rushdie, the author of "The Satanic Verses," was stabbed multiple times during a lecture in New York, and is currently in recovery.