The suspect in the attack on Rushdi read only two pages of his book "Satanic Verses"
The suspect in the attack on the writer Salman Rushdie last night in the courtroom in New York, he pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, reports the world media.
24-year-old Hadi Matar is accused of the attack on Rushdi that happened last Friday at a conference in New York.
Arrested immediately after the incident, the suspect pleaded not guilty the very next day at the procedural hearing.
Masked, handcuffed and wearing a black-and-white striped prison uniform, Matar spoke through his lawyer last night.
His lawyer Nathaniel Barone stressed at the trial that his client has the right to a "fair trial" and respect for the "presumption of innocence."
Matar "surprised" that Rushdi survived
In an interview with New York Post, who writes that he contacted him in prison, Hadi Mattar said he was "surprised" that Salman Rushdie survived the attack.
The 75-year-old British author, who was stabbed a dozen times in the neck and abdomen and was airlifted to hospital, was briefly put on a respirator before his condition improved.
Mattar did not say whether he was inspired by a fatwa issued by Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989 calling for the writer's death, and his book The Satanic Verses being declared blasphemous by Iran's supreme leader.
He told the New York Post that he has "respect for the ayatollah," who is an "extraordinary person."
As for Rushdi, Matar said he was not a "good man". "I don't like this person," he said.
"He is someone who attacked Islam," he added. Watching videos of the author on YouTube, he revealed that he was a "hypocrite" but admitted that he had only read two pages of the book that was said to be the reason for the fatwa.
