海角大神

The man accused in the聽聽on Salman Rushdie pleaded not guilty Saturday to attempted murder and assault charges in what a prosecutor called a 鈥減replanned鈥� crime, as the renowned author of 鈥淭he Satanic Verses鈥� remained hospitalized with serious injuries.

An attorney for Hadi Matar entered the plea on his behalf during an arraignment in western New York. The suspect appeared in court wearing a black and white jumpsuit and a white face mask, with his hands cuffed in front of him.

The man accused of carrying out a stabbing attack against 鈥淪atanic Verses鈥� author Salman Rushdie has pleaded not guilty plea in a New York court on charges of attempted murder and assault.聽A judge ordered him held without bail after District Attorney Jason Schmidt told her Mr. Matar took steps to purposely put himself in position to harm Mr.聽Rushdie, getting an advance pass to the event where the author was speaking and arriving a day early bearing a fake ID.

鈥淭his was a targeted, unprovoked, preplanned attack on Mr. Rushdie,鈥澛燤r.聽Schmidt said.

Public defender Nathaniel Barone complained that authorities had taken too long to get Mr.聽Matar in front of a judge while leaving him 鈥渉ooked up to a bench at the state police barracks.鈥�

鈥淗e has that constitutional right of presumed innocence,鈥� Mr.聽Barone added.

Mr.聽Matar is accused of聽聽as the author was being introduced at a lecture at the Chautauqua Institute, a nonprofit education and retreat center.

Mr.聽Rushdie suffered a damaged liver and severed nerves in an arm and an eye, and was on a ventilator and unable to speak, his agent Andrew Wylie said Friday evening. Mr.聽Rushdie was likely to lose 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 for more than 30 years has faced death threats for 鈥淭he Satanic Verses.鈥�

Authors, activists, and government officials cited Mr.聽Rushdie鈥檚 courage for his longtime advocacy of free speech despite the risks to his own safety. Writer and longtime friend Ian McEwan called Mr.聽Rushdie 鈥渁n inspirational defender of persecuted writers and journalists across the world,鈥� and actor-author Kal Penn cited him as a role model 鈥渇or an entire generation of artists, especially many of us in the South Asian diaspora toward whom he鈥檚 shown incredible warmth.鈥�

President Joe Biden said Saturday in a statement that he and first lady Jill Biden were 鈥渟hocked and saddened鈥� by the attack.

鈥淪alman Rushdie 鈥� with his insight into humanity, with his unmatched sense for story, with his refusal to be intimidated or silenced 鈥� stands for essential, universal ideals,鈥� the statement read. 鈥淭ruth. Courage. Resilience. The ability to share ideas without fear. These are the building blocks of any free and open society.鈥�

Mr.聽Rushdie, a native of India who has since lived in Britain and the U.S., is known for his surreal and satirical prose style, beginning with his Booker Prize-winning 1981 novel 鈥淢idnight鈥檚 Children,鈥� in which he sharply criticized India鈥檚 then-prime minister, Indira Gandhi.

鈥淭he Satanic Verses鈥� drew death threats after it was published in 1988, with many Muslims regarding as blasphemy a dream sequence based on the life of the Prophet Muhammad, among other objections. Mr.聽Rushdie鈥檚 book had already been banned and burned in India, Pakistan, and elsewhere before Iran鈥檚 Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or edict, calling for Mr.聽Rushdie鈥檚 death in 1989.

Ayatollah Khomeini died that same year, but the fatwa remains in effect. Iran鈥檚 current supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, never issued a fatwa of his own withdrawing the edict, though Iran in recent years hasn鈥檛 focused on the writer.

Investigators were working to determine whether the assailant, born a decade after 鈥淭he Satanic Verses鈥� was published, acted alone.

District Attorney Schmidt alluded to the fatwa as a potential motive in arguing against bail.

鈥淓ven if this court were to set a million dollars bail, we stand a risk that bail could be met,鈥� Mr.聽Schmidt said.

鈥淗is resources don鈥檛 matter to me. We understand that the agenda that was carried out yesterday is something that was adopted and it鈥檚 sanctioned by larger groups and organizations well beyond the jurisdictional borders of Chautauqua County,鈥� the prosecutor said.

Authorities said Mr. Matar is from Fairview, New Jersey. He was born in the United States to Lebanese parents who emigrated from Yaroun in southern Lebanon, the mayor of the village, Ali Tehfe, told The Associated Press.

Flags of Iran-backed Shia militant group Hezbollah and portraits of leader Hassan Nasrallah, Iran鈥檚 supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, his late predecessor Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and slain Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani are visible across the village, which also has a small 海角大神 population.

Journalists visiting the village Saturday were asked to leave. Hezbollah spokespeople did not respond to inquiries about Mr. Matar and the attack.

Iran鈥檚 theocratic government and its state-run media assigned no motive for the attack.聽聽some Iranians interviewed by the AP praised the attack on an author they believe tarnished the Islamic faith, while others worried it would further isolate their country.

An AP reporter聽. Dr. Martin Haskell, a physician who was among those who rushed to help, described Mr. Rushdie鈥檚 wounds as 鈥渟erious but recoverable.鈥�

Event moderator Henry Reese suffered a facial injury and was treated and released from a hospital, police said. He and Mr. Rushdie had planned to discuss the U.S. as a refuge for writers and other artists in exile.

A state trooper and a county sheriff鈥檚 deputy were assigned to Mr. Rushdie鈥檚 lecture, and state police said the trooper made the arrest. But afterward some longtime visitors to the center questioned why there wasn鈥檛 tighter security given the threats against Mr. Rushdie and a bounty of more than $3 million on his head.

The stabbing reverberated from the tranquil town of Chautauqua to the United Nations, which issued a statement expressing Secretary-General Antonio Guterres鈥� horror and stressing that free expression and opinion should not be met with violence.

Iran鈥檚 mission to the UN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

After the publication of 鈥淭he Satanic Verses,鈥� often-violent protests erupted across the Muslim world against Mr. Rushdie, who was born to a Muslim family and has long identified as a nonbeliever, once calling himself 鈥渁 hardline atheist.鈥�

At least 45 people were killed in riots over the book, including 12 people in Mr. Rushdie鈥檚 hometown of Mumbai. In 1991, a Japanese translator of the book was stabbed to death and an Italian translator survived a knife attack. In 1993, the book鈥檚 Norwegian publisher was shot three times and survived.

The death threats and bounty led Mr. Rushdie to go into hiding under a British government protection program, which included an around-the-clock armed guard. Mr. Rushdie emerged after nine years of seclusion and cautiously resumed more public appearances, maintaining his outspoken criticism of religious extremism overall.

In 2012, Mr. Rushdie published a memoir about the fatwa titled 鈥淛oseph Anton,鈥� the pseudonym Mr. Rushdie used while in hiding. He said during a New York talk that year that terrorism was really the art of fear.

鈥淭he only way you can defeat it is by deciding not to be afraid,鈥� he said.

The Chautauqua Institution, about 55 miles southwest of Buffalo in a rural corner of New York, has served for more than a century as a place for reflection and spiritual guidance. Visitors don鈥檛 pass through metal detectors or undergo bag checks, and most people leave the doors to their century-old cottages unlocked at night.

The center is known for its summertime lecture series, where Mr. Rushdie has spoken before.

At a Friday evening vigil, a few hundred residents and visitors gathered for prayer, music, and a long moment of silence.

鈥淗ate can鈥檛 win,鈥� one man shouted.

This story was reported by The Associated Press.聽Italie reported from New York. Associated Press journalist Kareem Chehayeb contributed to this report from Beirut.