Salman Rushdie’s alleged assailant won’t see author’s private notes before trial

MAYVILLE, NY — Author Salman Rushdie will not have to hand over his personal notes about his stabbing to the man accused of attacking him, a judge ruled on Thursday, rejecting the alleged attacker’s claim that he has a right to the material as he prepares for trial.

Hadi Matar’s lawyers in February subpoenaed Rushdie and publisher Penguin Random House for all source material relating to Rushdie’s recently published memoirs: “Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder,” which details the 2022 attack on the Chautauqua Institution. District Attorney Nathaniel Barone said the material he sought included information not available elsewhere.

“You could take it out of the book,” Chautauqua County Judge David Foley told Barone during oral arguments Thursday, before ruling that the request was overly broad and burdensome. In addition, the judge said, Rushdie and the publisher are covered by New York’s Shield law, which protects journalists from being forced to reveal confidential sources or material.

Demanding Rushdie turn over personal materials “would have the net effect of victimizing Mr. Rushdie a second time,” said Elizabeth McNamara, a lawyer for Penguin Random House, in asking that the subpoenas be quashed.

Matar, of Fairview, New Jersey, pleaded not guilty to assault and attempted murder after being indicted by a Chautauqua County grand jury shortly after authorities said he stormed the stage and stabbed Rushdie as he was about to address about 1,500 people at a Western New York amphitheater.

Rushdie, 77, spent years in hiding after the Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa or edictin 1989, demanding his death over his novel “The Satanic Verses,” which some Muslims consider blasphemous. Rushdie has traveled freely for the past two decades.

Also Thursday, the judge moved Matar’s trial from September to October to accommodate Rushdie’s travel schedule and that of City of Asylum Pittsburgh Director Henry Reese, who moderated the Chautauqua Institution appearance and was also injured. Both men are expected to testify.

District Attorney Jason Schmidt said jury selection will now begin on Oct. 15.