The President of the USA, Joe Bidencondemned this Saturday “brutal attack” on Salman Rushdiewho’s preventing for his life in a hospital after being stabbed in New York and careworn that the author represents values such because the safety of freedom of expression.
In an announcement, the president mentioned sure ‘shocked and saddened’ by ‘brutal assault’ in opposition to the author and warranted that, alongside along with his spouse, Jill Biden, he’s “praying for the well being and restoration” of Rushdie.
Biden emphasised that the author represents “important and common beliefs” resembling reality, braveness, resilience and the power to specific concepts with out worry.
“At this time, we reaffirm our dedication to those deeply American values, in solidarity with Rushdie and all those that defend freedom of expression“, he mentioned from South Carolina, the place he spends his summer time holidays.
Rushdie, on a ventilator and critically injured, is preventing for his life after he was stabbed on Friday in upstate New York shortly earlier than he was to ship a speech.
In 1989, the creator acquired a fatwa from the Islamic regime in Iran, which put a value on his head for reviewing his novel The Satanic Verses an insult to the Koran, Muhammad and the Islamic religion.
The 75-year-old Bombay-born British author lived haunted by that loss of life sentence (fatwa) and within the early 2000s moved to New York, taking US citizenship in 2016.
The suspected assailant, now in custody, is Hadi Matar, a 24-year-old California-born man of Lebanese descent who was charged with tried homicide on Saturday.
Hadi Matar, 24, was charged with tried homicide. Photograph: AP
Rushdie was stabbed on Friday on stage at an academic establishment within the north of the state shortly earlier than giving a lecture.
In keeping with state police, whose account was corroborated by dozens of witnesses on the scene, at round 11 a.m. native time, Rushdie was getting ready to be interviewed in a four,000-capacity amphitheater on the Chautauqua Institute within the city of the identical identify about 75 kilometers in south of the Buffalo.
Whereas on stage, a person wearing black emerged from the viewers with a knife and lunged at Rushdie, stabbing him within the neck and abdomen.
Rushdie had confronted a loss of life sentence since 1989, when Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa condemning the publication of his guide The Satanic Verses, deemed blasphemous for its criticism of Islam.
With info from businesses
DB
