Author Salman Rushdie has to be artificially ventilated after the attack - Scholz reacts: "Horrible act"
Created: 08/14/2022, 06:02
Author Salman Rushdie is treated after being attacked on a stage.
© Joshua Goodman/ dpa
Iran has threatened Salman Rushdie with death for the past 30 years.
The world-famous author was attacked with a knife in New York on Friday.
Update from August 13, 8:10 p.m .:
The 24-year-old New Jersey perpetrator, Hadi Matar, was charged with attempted murder and assault.
The
New York Times
reported that Matar is being held in Chautauqua County Jail.
The motives of the perpetrator remain unknown.
According to the current state of knowledge, the perpetrator acted alone.
Rushdie attack: Scholz condemns the attack on the writer
Update from August 13, 7:33 p.m .:
Chancellor Olaf Scholz sharply condemned the knife attack on writer Salman Rushdie.
Scholz spoke on Twitter on Saturday of a "disgusting act" and wished Rushdie a lot of strength for recovery.
"The world needs people like you who are not intimidated by hate and fearlessly stand up for freedom of expression," Scholz continued.
Rushdie attack: Author is artificially ventilated
Update from August 13, 8:10 a.m .:
According to his agent, the author Salman Rushdie has to be artificially ventilated and could even lose an eye.
"The news is not good," said agent Andrew Wylie on Friday, according to the
New York Times
.
“Salman will probably lose an eye;
the nerves of his arm were severed;
and his liver was stabbed and damaged.” Accordingly, the British-Indian writer was put on a ventilator.
A 24-year-old attacked and seriously injured Rushdie at a literary event in upstate New York on Friday.
The 75-year-old author of the "Satanic Verses", whose killing Iran's spiritual leader Ayatollah Khomeini had called for in 1989 for allegedly insulting the Prophet Mohammed, was flown to a clinic in a rescue helicopter and operated on.
The attacker was overwhelmed by onlookers and arrested by a police officer who was present.
The motive of the 24-year-old from Fairfield in the state of New Jersey, which is close to New York, was initially unclear.
Update from August 12, 10:20 p.m .:
There are no details on the background of the attack so far.
It was initially unclear whether this was related to the decades-old fatwa.
An Associated Press reporter said the attacker punched or stabbed Rushdie 10 to 15 times.
The interviewer, who was also attacked, has a head injury, police said.
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A few days before the assassination, the world-renowned author told
Stern
magazine that he felt safe in the United States.
"It was a long time ago," Rushdie said in an interview with correspondent Raphael Geiger in late July when asked if he still feared for his life, the magazine reported.
"It was serious for a few years," Rushdie continued.
"But since I've been living in America, I haven't had any more problems." The author also warned about the political climate and possible violence in the USA: The bad thing is "that death threats have become commonplace."
Update from August 12, 7:30 p.m .:
According to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, the intervention of a police officer saved the life of author Salman Rushdie after an attack.
"And I want to commend the state police, it was a state police officer who stood up and saved his (Rushdie's) life, protected him," Hochul said Friday in the city of Buffalo.
Rushdie is alive and getting the help he needs at a local hospital.
After knife attack: Salman Rushdie's condition is unknown
First report from August 12:
Chautauqua – The writer Salman Rushdie, who had been threatened with death for years, was attacked with a knife on a stage in the US state of New York on Friday, according to US media reports.
The US news agency
Associated Press
reported on Friday about the incident in western New York, citing its own reporter present.
The attack happened in Chautauqua County.
Video images showed people rushing to the Indo-British author's aid after the attack.
The police confirmed a knife attack on the spot, but initially gave no information on the identity of the victim.
According to police, Rushdie was injured in the neck.
The 75-year-old writer was taken to a nearby hospital by helicopter.
"Nothing is known about his condition." The police and medical emergency services were called to the event venue in Chautauqua, the police confirmed to the German Press Agency on Friday.
Shias threaten author - Rushdie's attackers arrested in New York
Because of his work The Satanic Verses (1988), Rushdie was once subjected to a fatwa calling for his death.
Some Muslims felt their religious sensibilities were offended by the work, and the Shiite leader had accused him of “blasphemy”.
Iran's revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued an Islamic legal opinion calling for the killing of Rushdie and everyone involved in distributing the book.
Rushdie had to go into hiding and was given police protection.
The US newspaper
New York Times
quoted a witness: "There was only one attacker".
And further: “He was dressed in black.
He was wearing loose black clothing.
He ran towards him at lightning speed.” The perpetrator was arrested on Friday in the event hall in Chautauqua, the New York police said.
At 11:00 a.m. (5:00 p.m. BST local time), "the male suspect ran onto the stage and attacked Rushdie and an interviewer," it said.
(sf/dpa/AFP)
