Salman Rushdie has been removed from a ventilator and was able to speak on Saturday, his agent confirmed, as the US president praised the writer’s courage and expressed horror at the attack on him.
The Indian-born British novelist remains hospitalized with serious injuries, but his author Aatish Taseer tweeted on Saturday evening that he was “off the ventilator and talking (and joking)”. Rushdie’s agent, Andrew Wylie, confirmed this information without offering further details.
Earlier Saturday, Hadi Matar, the man suspected in Friday’s attack on a literary festival in upstate New York, pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder and assault in a brief court appearance where he was denied bail.
Joe Biden, the US president, praised Rushdie for “his refusal to be intimidated or silenced” and said the author stood for the essential ideals of truth, courage and resilience. “These are the basic components of any free and open society. And today, we reaffirm our commitment to these deeply American values in solidarity with Rushdie and all those who stand up for free speech,” the president said in a statement. Biden also said he was “shocked and saddened to learn -se of the vicious attack”.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, “strongly” condemned Saturday night’s attack. “The international rejection of these criminal actions, which violate fundamental rights and freedoms, is the only path to a better and more peaceful world,” tweeted Borrell.
Rushdie lived in hiding and under police protection for years after late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa in 1989 calling for his death in retribution for Rushdie’s book The Satanic Verses. Many Muslims interpreted the author’s book as blasphemous because it included a character they found insulting the Prophet Muhammad.
Rushdie, 75, was at the Chautauqua Institution to speak about the importance of giving asylum to writers exiled by the United States when he was attacked, and said recently that he believed his life was becoming “very normal again “.
On Saturday, District Attorney Jason Schmidt alleged that Rushdie’s alleged attacker took steps to intentionally put himself in a position to harm Rushdie by getting an early pass to the event where the author was speaking and arriving a day earlier with a fake ID. “This was a targeted, unprovoked and pre-planned attack on Mr Rushdie,” Schmidt alleged.
Public defender Nathaniel Barone complained that authorities had taken too long to bring Matar before a judge while leaving him “glued to a bench in the state police barracks.” “He has that constitutional right of presumption of innocence,” Barone said.
Matar allegedly rushed the stage and stabbed Rushdie repeatedly before being tackled by audience members, institution staff and two local security officers.
Rushdie suffered a damaged liver and severed nerves in an arm and eye, Wylie said Friday evening. It is likely that he lost the injured eye.
The attack was met with shock and outrage from much of the world, along with tributes and praise for the award-winning author who has faced death threats over The Satanic Verses for more than 30 years.
Authors, activists, and government officials cited Rushdie’s courage and longtime advocacy of free speech despite risks to his own safety. Writer and long-time friend Ian McEwan said Rushdie was “an inspiring advocate for persecuted writers and journalists around the world”, and actor and author Kal Penn cited him as a role model “for all a generation of artists, especially for many of us in the South Asian diaspora towards whom he has shown incredible warmth”.
The motive for the attack appears to be unclear. The suspect was born a decade after The Satanic Verses was published.
Barone, the public defender, said after Saturday’s hearing that Matar, of Fairview, New Jersey, had been in open communication with him and that he would spend the next few weeks trying to learn about his client, including whether he has psychological problems or of addiction
Matar was born in the United States to parents who immigrated from Yaroun in southern Lebanon, the village’s mayor, Ali Tehfe, told the Associated Press.
Flags of the Iranian-backed Shiite militant group Hezbollah are visible throughout the village, along with portraits of leader Hassan Nasrallah, Khamenei, Khomeini and slain Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.
Journalists who visited Yaroun on Saturday were asked to leave. Hezbollah spokesmen did not respond to requests for comment.
Iran’s theocratic government and its state media did not assign a motive for the attack. In Tehran, some Iranians praised the attack on a perpetrator they believe tarnished the Islamic faith, while others worried it would further isolate their country.
News of the stabbing has sparked renewed interest in The Satanic Verses, which topped the bestseller lists after the fatwa was issued in 1989. As of Saturday afternoon, the novel was at No. 13 on Amazon.com.