The Lebanese accused of attacking Salman Rushdie does not want to plead

Hadi Matar, 26, remained silent in the Chautauqua County Courthouse as attorneys presented a plea they say was developed by federal and state prosecutors in the years ago, Rushdie accepted.

Under the agreement, Mattar will plead guilty to attempted murder in Chautauqua County in exchange for a reduction in the state's maximum prison sentence from 25 to 20 years. He will later plead guilty to a yet-to-be-filed federal charge of attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization, which could carry up to 20 years in prison, attorneys said.

Mattar, who has pleaded not guilty and has been held without bail since his arrest in 2022, attacked Rushdie as the famous writer was about to address an audience at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York, advocates say. Rushdie was blind in one eye. The presenter Henry Rees was also injured.

Rushdie was stabbed more than a dozen times, said Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt, who described the near-fatal attack and painful aftermath in his memoir "The Knife: Musings After an Attempted Murder." " was considered in the bill.

"He wants to see this end," Schmidt said. Schmidt said he would oppose reducing the maximum sentence without Rushdie's consent, because of the nature of the attack. "He came to Chautauqua County and committed this crime, not only a crime against an individual but also a crime against the concept of free speech," Schmidt said.

Matar's attorney, Nathaniel Barone, said Matar will participate in the trial.

"He said, what do I lose?" Barone spoke after the hearing.

Judge David Foley ordered Matar to discuss the request with Barone and provide a clear answer at the next hearing on July 2.

Rushdie, 77 on Wednesday, died in 1989 when Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for his death for his book "The Satanic Verses," which some Muslims believe is blasphemous. Rashidi hid for several years. In the late 1990s Rushdie began to re-emerge in public life and has spent the last twenty years traveling freely.

After the onstage attack, investigators said they were trying to determine whether Mattar, who was born nearly a decade after "The Satanic Verses," acted alone. Federal charges are being considered by prosecutors who say he may not have done it.

"Our approach is that this is a terrorist organization supported by Middle Eastern countries, and that's what they're doing to them," Barone said.

"The government's position is to support it before it happens," he said. "I think that in order for them to be able to prosecute or judge on the charges against terrorists, they have to show prior support as part of the charge."

Barbara Burns, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, declined to comment on potential terrorism charges, explaining that the agency does not confirm or deny an investigation.

Matar was born in the United States but has two Lebanese origins. His mother said that her son had changed after visiting his father in Lebanon in 2018, and became withdrawn and depressed. The land has arrived.

Rushdie, whose works include Midnight's Children and Victory, wrote in his memoirs that he saw a man running up to him in a theater where he spoke of the protect writers from harm. If Mattar's trial goes ahead as scheduled in Chautauqua County in September, the author will appear on the witness stand.