“When I heard he survived I was surprised,” Hadi Matar told the New York Post in a video interview from prison.
Due to the warning of his lawyer, the twenty-four-year-old did not answer the question of whether he carried out the attack because of the fatwa of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini, issued because of Rushdie’s book “The Satanic Verses”.
“I respect the Ayatollah, I think he is a great man. That’s all I can say about that,” Matar said, adding that he had only read a few pages of Rushdie’s controversial book.
“I read a few pages, I didn’t read the book from cover to cover,” said Matar.
However, he stated that he listened to his lectures on YouTube. I don’t like people who are so dishonest, said the suspect in the attack.
He claims that he was not in contact with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, stating that he acted completely alone.
Allegedly, Zimus also saw a post on Twitter announcing Rushdie’s participation in the forum.
“I don’t like that man. I don’t think he’s a good person. I don’t like him, I don’t like him very much. He attacked Islam, he attacked their beliefs, their belief system,” Hadi Matar said.
The writer Salman Rushdie (75) was stabbed last Friday in the amphitheater of the “Shatokva” Institute, where he was supposed to give a lecture. His agent said he was taken off the ventilator and his condition is improving.
Rushdie, who spent years in hiding because Tehran put a $3 million price on his head, was stabbed ten times. His liver was damaged, as were the nerves in his hand and eye.
Hadi Matar was taken into custody by a member of the security forces almost immediately after the attack. Matar was charged with attempted murder and assault, and pleaded not guilty at the trial.
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