Ex-Iranian vice-president living in UK says he is not to blame for Salman Rushdie’s stabbing despite backing fatwa by writing: ‘Whoever insults the prophet deserves to be killed’
- Sayyid Ata’ollah Mohajerani said he was not to blame for the brutal attack
- The former Iranian vice-president helped issue the fatwa on Salman Rushdie
- Copies of Satanic Verses soared after Rushdie was brutally stabbed 15 times
A former Iranian vice-president who lives in Britain shut down any suggestion that he was to blame for the brutal stabbing of Salman Rushdie on stage in New York despite supporting the fatwa on him.
Sayyid Ata’ollah Mohajerani was instrumental in issuing a death sentence against Mr Rushdie after his controversial 1998 novel The Satanic Verses was deemed blasphemous by some Muslims.
The 75-year-old author was stabbed 15 times before he was due to deliver a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution and suffered severe injuries to his eye, arm and liver and is recovering in hospital.
But the ex big-wig politician slapped down questions over whether he felt any responsibility for the attack on the wordsmith.
He told the Sun outside his London home: ‘It was a strange time in Iran… I focused on the interpretation of the fatwa.’
Mr Mohajerani was a student during the 1979 Islamic Revolution which overthrew the Shah and installed Ayatollah Khomeini as the nation’s supreme leader.
He then became an MP and continued to hold the position of vice-president when the Ayatollah ordered the execution of Left-wing prisoners in Iranian jails.
Sayyid Ata’ollah Mohajerani (pictured) was instrumental in issuing a death sentence against Mr Rushdie after his controversial 1998 novel after The Satanic Verses was deemed blasphemous by some Muslims. He refused to entertain the idea that he had any part to play in Rushdie’s stabbing
Salman Rushdie (pictured) was stabbed 15 times before he was due to deliver a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in New York.
In the week from August 14 to August 20 the paperback edition of Satanic Verses hit its highest ever spot at 120th in the bestselling chart, up from 24,491st for the week before the attack.
Those trying to secure a copy of the book through Waterstones and Foyles face a two-week wait.
And with physical copies in short supply, The Satanic Verses ebook entered the Amazon charts at number 12 for the first time in the week from August 14. The celebrated writer is set to release his next book, Victory City, in February 2023.
The novelist’s suspected attacker, 24-year-old Hadi Matar, has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree attempted murder and assault.
Matar was indicted by a grand jury on Thursday and charged with one count of second-degree attempted murder and one count of assault in the second degree.
He appeared in court on Thursday 18 August with his hands shackled as District Attorney Jason Schmidt and claimed ‘his mission to kill Mr. Rushdie is greater in his mind and outweighs his personal freedom.’
Hadi Matar, 24, pleaded not guilty in court to second degree attempted murder and assault charges on Thursday 18 August
Schmidt argued that Matar should be kept in custody as a trial into the attack proceeds, The Buffalo News reports.
He has been held without bail and is due back in court on September 22.
Matar was also ordered not to have any contact with Rushdie, and agreed to a request by his defence lawyer to issue a temporary gag order barring the parties from discussing the case in the media.
The BBC reported that the man accused of Stabbing Mr Rushdie had only read two pages of his book.
The attack has caused celebrities such as Ricky Gervais to beef up security around his gigs and stand up shows.
The Office and After Life creator is in the middle of performing new material at Soho’s tiny Leicester Square Theatre, where members of the audience sit yards away from comics.
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