Rushdie assailant Matar charged with attempted murder, denied bail because of international support

In this frame grab from a video courtesy of Horatio Gates, Salman Rushdie is seen being loaded onto a medical evacuation helicopter near the Chautauqua Institution after being stabbed in Chautauqua, New York. (AFP)
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Updated 15 August 2022
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Rushdie assailant Matar charged with attempted murder, denied bail because of international support

  • “He’s off the ventilator, so the road to recovery has begun,” his agent, Andrew Wylie, said
  • Attacker pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder and assault at court appearance on Saturday

CHICAGO: The literary agent for Salman Rushdie — attacked by a pro-Iran activist at an event in New York state on Friday — said that the author had been taken off his ventilator, was able to talk and had been making jokes.

Hadi Matar, 24, arrested for the attack, was charged but denied bail as prosecutors argued that he had international support for his actions.

Rushdie’s literary agent, Andrew Wylie, told media on Sunday that the author, the subject of a death fatwa issued by the late Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini 33 years ago, remained hospitalized due to serious injuries.

Wylie had previously described Rushdie’s condition as bleak, noting that the author was in a “critical condition,” that he was “likely to lose an eye,” and had suffered damage to his arm and his liver.

The news about the improved condition of Rushdie, 75, however, encouraged hope and tempered the attack as a failed attempt by the extremist Iran regime, accused of fostering terrorism around the world.

The attacker, Hadi Matar, 24, pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder in the second degree and assault in the second degree. He was arraigned on Saturday night at Chautauqua County Jail in New York.

Bail for Matar was denied with prosecutor’s arguing that Matar had international support and could easily flee the country.

Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt told Judge Marilyn Gerace that the fatwa issued by Iran in 1989 “plays an important role for bail consideration because his resources don’t matter to me . . . the agenda that was carried out yesterday is something that’s adopted and sanctioned by larger groups and organizations well beyond jurisdictional borders of Chautauqua County . . . Even if this court sets a million-dollar bail, we stand a risk that this bail could be met because of that.”

Matar, who is from Fairview, New Jersey, is scheduled to appear again in court on Friday. He is being represented by a New York public defender assigned to represent him by the court.

Calls for a crackdown on Iranian terrorism and violence escalated as police continued to investigate Matar’s motives and possible ties to supporters of Iran’s regime.

Matar’s Facebook page and social media included photos of Khomeini and other Iran regime leaders.

“The stabbing of Salman Rushdie was not a spontaneous act,” said Ali Safavi, a member of the foreign affairs committee of the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran, who strongly condemned the attack. “Over 30 years ago, Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of Iran’s ruling theocracy, issued a fatwa to murder him. His successor Ali Khamenei confirmed it and state institutions set a $3.5 million reward. Lesson to be learned is that appeasement backfires and emboldens terrorism.”

Former US president, Bill Clinton, wrote on Twitter: “Salman Rushdie has lived his life courageously and refused to let intimidation silence him, his art, and what he stands for. I am keeping him in my thoughts and praying for his recovery.”

 

 

Clinton’s post drew criticism from some writers, who accused the former president of turning a blind eye to violence against Muslims and Palestinians, but stopped short of praising Matar.

Hillary Clinton, former US secretary of state, tweeted: “I’m horrified by the cowardly attack on Salman Rushdie and praying for his speedy recovery. As he once wrote: ‘A poet’s work (is) to name the unnamable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world, and stop it from going to sleep’.”

 

Chautauqua County Executive P.J. Wendel issued a statement offering thoughts and prayers for Rushdie’s recovery.

“The small tranquil community of the Chautauqua Institution has been shaken to its core by an act of violence, which has reverberated across Chautauqua County and western New York. It is disappointing that we live in a society where we cannot listen to the differences of others, especially in a place like the institution where thinkers and problem-solvers from around the world come to share their stories,” Wendel said.

“I thank all of the emergency and law enforcement agencies who have done a tremendous job in responding to this horrific event. It is through their quick response that they were able to mitigate the situation and capture the alleged assailant.”

Author Stephen King posted on Twitter that the attack had depressed him: “I’m trying to cheer myself up this afternoon. What happened to Salman Rushdie preys on my mind.”

 

US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken denounced as “despicable” the role played by Iranian state institutions for having “incited violence against Rushdie for generations”, adding that Iran’s state-affiliated media “recently gloated about the attempt on his life.”  

“We join those across the country and around the world who are keeping Salman Rushdie in our thoughts in the aftermath of this heinous attack. More than a literary giant, Rushdie has consistently stood up for the universal rights of freedom of expression​, freedom of religion or belief, and freedom of the press. While law enforcement officials continue to investigate the attack, I am reminded of the pernicious forces that seek to undermine these rights, including through hate speech and incitement to violence” he said.

“The United States and partners will not waver in our determination to stand up to these threats, using every appropriate tool at our disposal. The strength of Rushdie — and that of all of those around the world who have endured such threats — steels our resolve and underscores the imperative of standing united as an international community against those who would challenge these universal rights,” he added.

Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn, a strong critic of President Joe Biden, turned the debate to politics, attacking Biden’s efforts to reach an accord with Iran on nuclear weapons.

“Iran has been plotting for the death of Salman Rushdie since 1989 and offered a bounty to anyone who assassinates him. Yesterday, he was attacked on stage. Meanwhile, the Biden administration is open to having additional talks with this dangerous, terrorist regime,” Blackburn wrote on Twitter.

 

 

Rushdie was about to address the Chautauqua Institution, a nonprofit education center and summer resort near Buffalo, New York, when he was attacked. Rushdie was planning to speak about America being a place of “asylum for writers and other artists in exile.”

Police said that Matar had a pass to attend the presentation at the gated institution community but that passes were available to anyone.


First flight with Israelis evacuated from Amsterdam lands in Tel Aviv

Updated 57 min 7 sec ago
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First flight with Israelis evacuated from Amsterdam lands in Tel Aviv

  • The plane that arrived in Tel Aviv had passengers evacuated from Amsterdam

TEL AVIV: The first flight carrying Israelis evacuated from Amsterdam after violent clashes following a football match there landed on Friday at Ben Gurion International Airport, the Israel Airports Authority said.
“The plane that arrived in Tel Aviv now has passengers evacuated from Amsterdam,” Liza Dvir, spokeswoman for the airport authority told AFP.


India’s Modi rejects calls to restore Kashmir’s partial autonomy

Updated 08 November 2024
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India’s Modi rejects calls to restore Kashmir’s partial autonomy

  • Modi revoked partial autonomy in 2019 and split the state into the two federally administered territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh 
  • Jammu and Kashmir held its first local election in a decade this year, newly-elected lawmakers passed resolution this week seeking restoration

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly backed his government’s contentious 2019 decision to revoke the partial autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir, days after the territory’s newly elected lawmakers sought its restoration.
“Only the constitution of Babasaheb Ambedkar will operate in Kashmir... No power in the world can restore Article 370 (partial autonomy) in Kashmir,” Modi said, referring to one of the founding fathers of the Indian constitution.
Modi was speaking at a state election rally in the western state of Maharashtra, where Ambedkar was from.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government revoked partial autonomy in 2019 and split the state into the two federally administered territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh — a move that was opposed by many political groups in the Himalayan region.
Jammu and Kashmir held its first local election in a decade in September and October and the newly-elected lawmakers passed a resolution this week seeking the restoration.
Jammu and Kashmir’s ruling National Conference party had promised in its election manifesto that it would restore the partial autonomy, although the power to do so lies with Modi’s federal government.
Jammu and Kashmir’s new lawmakers can legislate on local issues like other Indian states, except matters regarding public order and policing. They will also need the approval of the federally-appointed administrator on all policy decisions that have financial implications.
Under the system of partial autonomy, Kashmir had its own constitution and the freedom to make laws on all issues except foreign affairs, defense and communications.
The troubled region, where separatist militants have fought security forces since 1989, is India’s only Muslim-majority territory.
It has been at the center of a territorial dispute with Pakistan since the neighbors gained independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
Kashmir is claimed in full but ruled in part by both India and Pakistan, which have fought two of their three wars over the region.


Kyiv says Russia has returned bodies of 563 soldiers

Updated 08 November 2024
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Kyiv says Russia has returned bodies of 563 soldiers

  • The exchange of prisoners and bodies of killed military personnel remains one of the few areas of cooperation
  • The announcement represents one of the largest repatriations of killed Ukrainian servicemen

KYIV: Ukraine said on Friday it had received the bodies of 563 soldiers from Russian authorities, mainly troops that had died in combat in the eastern Donetsk region.
The exchange of prisoners and bodies of killed military personnel remains one of the few areas of cooperation between Moscow and Kyiv since Russia invaded in 2022.
“The bodies of 563 fallen Ukrainian defenders were returned to Ukraine,” the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said in a statement on social media.
The announcement represents one of the largest repatriations of killed Ukrainian servicemen since the beginning of the war.
The statement said that 320 of the remains were returned from the Donetsk region and that 89 of the soldiers had been killed near Bakhmut, a town captured by Russia in May last year after a costly battle.
Another 154 of the bodies were returned from morgues inside Russia, the statement added.
Neither Russia nor Ukraine publicly disclose how many military personnel have been killed fighting.


Russia sentences soldiers who massacred Ukraine family to life in prison

Updated 08 November 2024
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Russia sentences soldiers who massacred Ukraine family to life in prison

  • The court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced the two men to life in prison for mass murder “motivated by political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred“
  • The incident triggered uproar in Ukraine

MOSCOW: A Russian court sentenced two soldiers to life in prison for the massacre of a family of nine people in their home in occupied Ukraine, state media reported on Friday.
Russian prosecutors said in October 2023, the two Russian soldiers, Anton Sopov and Stanislav Rau, entered the home of the Kapkanets family in the city of Volnovakha with guns equipped with silencers.
They then shot all nine family members who lived there, including two children aged five and nine.
The southern district military court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced the two men to life in prison for mass murder “motivated by political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred,” the state-run TASS news agency reported, citing an unnamed law enforcement source.
The incident triggered uproar in Ukraine.
Kyiv alleged at the time that the Russian soldiers had murdered the family in their sleep after they refused to move out of their home to allow Russian soldiers to live there.
“The occupiers killed the Kapkanets family, who were celebrating a birthday and refused to give up their home,” Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said a day after the murder.
Russian forces seized the city of Volnovakha in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region at the start of their full-scale military offensive.
It was virtually destroyed by Russian artillery strikes.
Russian soldiers have been accused of multiple instances of killing civilians in Ukrainian towns and cities they have occupied since February 2022.
Moscow has always denied targeting civilians and tried to claim reports of atrocities at places like Bucha were fake, despite widespread evidence from multiple independent sources.
The arrest and sentencing in this case is a rare example of Russia admitting to a crime committed by its troops in Ukraine.
State media did not say what prosecutors determined the reason for the attack was.
TASS suggested it could have been a “domestic dispute,” while both the independent Radio Free Europe and Kommersant business outlets said it could have been linked to a dispute over obtaining vodka.
The trial was held in secret.
The independent Radio Free Europe outlet reported the Rau, 28, and Sopov, 21 were mercenaries for the Wagner paramilitary before joining Russia’s official army.
They had both received state awards a few months before the mass murder, it said.


Saudi influencer shines spotlight on resilience, hard work of Filipino expats

Updated 08 November 2024
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Saudi influencer shines spotlight on resilience, hard work of Filipino expats

  • Riyadh-based health worker Ahmed Alruwaili has 1.7 million followers on Facebook
  • He shot to social media fame thanking Filipino frontliners during COVID-19 pandemic

MANILA: Dressed in a white thobe, a traditional headdress, and a blue jersey of the Philippine national basketball team, Saudi influencer Ahmed Alruwaili appears in a viral video, distributing small gifts and snacks to Filipinos in Riyadh as a way to thank them for their hard work.

In another clip, he visits an elementary school for Filipino children, sharing jokes and laughter with them. In yet another, he hands out portable electric fans to Filipino expats braving the scorching heat of the Saudi capital.

These videos are just a few among the hundreds of Alruwaili posts, in which he uses his social media platform to celebrate over 1 million Filipino expats living and working in Saudi Arabia. Through his content, he highlights their resilience, traditions, and sense of humor, reaching 1.7 million Facebook followers.

It all began about six years ago when he joined a group of Filipino baristas playing street basketball in the mornings. Initially reluctant, they soon welcomed him into their circle. After each game, they would share their breakfasts with him before heading off to work.

“They used to bring pancit in the morning, at 5 a.m. Pancit and pan de sal, Alicafe,” Alruwaili recalled, referring to traditional Filipino noodles, bread rolls, and the popular instant coffee.

“I know it’s really weird, but that’s how it all started. It’s all with basketball. And till today, I still play with the same people. I did not change, I’m still visiting them. I’m the one now to bring them the food.”

Over time, he developed a basic understanding of Filipino culture and Tagalog — a language he had slowly become familiar with also through his work in a healthcare facility, where he had met many Filipino colleagues.

During basketball games, his friends would often record videos of him, which quickly garnered considerable attention and views. Encouraged by this, Alruwaili began sharing content regularly. While his posts were initially comedic, everything changed with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, as he witnessed the dedication and sacrifice of Filipino nurses working on the frontlines of the healthcare crisis.

Feeling the need to express recognition and gratitude, Alruwaili shifted the focus of his content. This became a turning point — one that would shape the direction of his online presence and influence in the years to come.

“It was purely comedy until the COVID time,” he said. “Working in a healthcare facility, I see the hard-working OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) here in Saudi. So, I thought I’d use it to give appreciation. Once I did that … it became different. All the things happened after that. This is how we started.”

In a video posted in March 2020, Alruwaili is seen buying flowers and food and distributing them to Filipino nurses at various locations in Riyadh.

“The reason why I made this is just to remind you about all the hard work that the nurses are doing all over the world, especially the OFW nurses against this coronavirus,” he says in the clip.

“We all need to pray and appreciate all the nurses for their hard work. The nurses now are the true heroes.”

The video received 3.5 million views. Another video, in which Alruwaili brings pillows, blankets, and food to pandemic-stranded Filipino workers waiting for their flights, has now reached 6 million views — and continues to grow.

Known as The Saudipinoy after the name of his Facebook account — with the word “Pinoy” meaning “Filipino” in Tagalog — the Saudi influencer has already visited the Philippines eight times since he started vlogging.

One of his most popular clips — which has 8 million views — was filmed on Siargao Island. It shows him conducting a social experiment, pretending that his motorcycle has run out of gas. The video captures how Filipinos would immediately offer help to a stranger in need.

Despite his social media fame, Alruwaili’s life remains centered around his full-time job in healthcare. Working as a medical professional, he devotes just one day a week to creating content.

“One day, I am just asleep … then the other day I will do the vlog, then I will prepare to go back to work. So, my life is really busy, I am really working hard to keep up with the vlog,” he said.

“(But) I am extremely happy with the impact (of what) I am doing.”

His social media work is appreciated not only by Filipinos, many of whom recognize him on the streets of Riyadh and approach him to thank him and hug him, but also by fellow Saudis.

“I want Saudis to notice the hard work of OFWs, and I want OFWs to know that Saudi people are nice,” he said.

“I am proud to be Saudi and representing Saudis. And, thank God, even big people here in Saudi … they said: ‘Keep going, you are representing the Saudi people and we are proud of you.’”