Sir Salman Rushdie’s agent has confirmed that he’s been taken off the ventilator and is talking as the man accused of stabbing him pleaded not guilty on Saturday to charges of attempted murder and assault.
A lawyer for Hadi Matar, 24, entered the plea on his behalf during a formal hearing at a court in western New York.
Matar appeared in court wearing a black and white jumpsuit and a white face mask, with his hands cuffed in front of him.
A judge ordered him to be held without bail after district attorney Jason Schmidt told her Matar took steps to purposely put himself in a position to harm Sir Salman, getting an advance pass to the event where the author was speaking and arriving a day early with a fake ID.
“This was a targeted, unprovoked, pre-planned attack on Mr Rushdie,” Mr Schmidt said.
Sir Salman suffered serious injuries and is in hospital on a ventilator and may lose an eye, his agent has said.
