Man Accused Of Attacking World-Renowned Author In Court Wednesday

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MAYVILLE, NY (WNY News Now) – The man accused of attacking a world-renowned author at the Chautauqua Institution will be in court on Wednesday.

Hadi Matar is scheduled to appear before Chautauqua County Court Judge David Foley for an evidence discovery conference in connection with the alleged attack on Salman Rushdie.

Last month, the 24-year-old was formally indicated by a Grand Jury on second-degree attempted murder and second-degree assault, both felonies, in connection with the August 12 attack.

Due to international publicity in the case, Matar’s counsel, Chautauqua County Public Defender Ned Barone, requested a “gag order” to restrict parties involved, such as witnesses, law enforcement and legal aids, from discussing specific evidence and other related documents of the case.

The order, which was issued two weeks ago, followed “several hundred phone calls” to Matar while in custody. One of the calls ultimately went through, with the accused speaking to the New York Post, in which Matar talked about disliking Rushdie and praised Iran’s late supreme leader.