Hadi Matar. Foto: Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Department via AP / NTB.

Hadi Matar, den 24 år gamle islamisten med familierøtter i Libanon som knivstakk og alvorlig skadet forfatteren Salman Rushdie mens han holdt et foredrag i Chautauqua i staten New York sist fredag, sier i et intervju med New York Post at han ikke liker Rushdie og ikke synes han er et godt menneske.

Rushdie angrep islam, fremholder Matar overfor den amerikanske avisen, som har videointervjuet 24-åringen fra Chautauqua County Jail.

“I don’t like the person. I don’t think he’s a very good person,” he said about Rushdie. “I don’t like him. I don’t like him very much.

“He’s someone who attacked Islam, he attacked their beliefs, the belief systems.”

I 1989 utstedte Irans daværende leder, ayatolla Khomeini en fatwa – altså en islams domsavsigelse – mot Rushdie der forfatteren av «De sataniske vers» ble dømt til døden for blasfemi mot islam. Khomeini oppfordret muslimer til å drepe alle som hadde hatt med utgivelsen å gjøre, uansett hvor i verden. Rushdies japanske oversetter ble siden drept, og hans italienske oversetter og norske forlegger ble skadet i angrep.

Matar sier han respekterer Khomeini, men nevner ikke fatwaen direkte og avviser enhver kontakt med den iranske revolusjonsgarden:

The 24-year-old wouldn’t say if he was inspired by the late Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issuing a fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie’s death in 1989 over the author’s book “The Satanic Verses,” citing a warning by his lawyer.

“I respect the ayatollah. I think he’s a great person. That’s as far as I will say about that,” Matar said, noting he only “read a couple pages” of Rushdie’s controversial novel.

The accused stabber denied being in contact with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, and said he was inspired to go to Chautauqua after seeing a tweet announcing Rushdie’s visit sometime in the winter.

Matar, som knivstakk Rushdie minst ti ganger, sier han er overrasket over at forfatteren overlevde angrepet. 24-åringen har ikke desto mindre erklært seg ikke skyldig i drapsforsøk.

Den New Jersey-fødte islamisten har ikke god kjennskap til Rushdies litterære arbeid, men har sett forfatteren på YouTube:

While less familiar with Rushdie’s written work, Matar said he watched videos of the author on YouTube.

“I saw a lot of lectures,” he said. “I don’t like people who are disingenuous like that.”

Matar klager over maten i fengselet:

The accused stabber complained about the conditions in the local jail, where he is being held without bail.

“A lot of the food they have given me is not allowed in my religion to eat,” he said, adding he is “doing all right.”

Matars mor har uttalt at den drapssiktede 24-åringen forandret seg og ble mer innesluttet og religiøs etter et besøk til foreldrenes hjemland Libanon i 2018, der hans far oppholdt seg.

“I was expecting him to come back motivated, to complete school, to get his degree and a job. But instead he locked himself in the basement,” mom Silvana Fardos told the Daily Mail. “He had changed a lot, he didn’t say anything to me or his sisters for months,”

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