Jury selection has started in the US trial of Hadi Matar, the man accused of stabbing writer Sir Salman Rushdie in August 2022.
Matar, 27, faces charges of attempted murder and assault following the attack that left Rushdie blind in one eye.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The trial is being held at Chautauqua County Court in New York, having been delayed twice. Rushdie is expected to give evidence and confront the accused in court.
Originally scheduled for January 2024, the trial was postponed after Matar’s defense team requested a delay to review Rushdie’s memoir about the attack, fearing it could be used as evidence.
In October, a further delay occurred after the defense team sought to move the trial to a different county, arguing that the small size of Chautauqua County, where the case has attracted significant publicity, could lead to an unfair trial.
The request was denied, and the trial proceeded as planned in Mayville, a village with around 1,500 residents.
Five jurors were selected on Tuesday, with jury selection continuing on Wednesday at 09:30 local time (14:30 GMT).
In August 2022, Rushdie was stabbed up to 10 times on stage during an event at the Chautauqua Institution in New York.
He was placed on a ventilator and spent six weeks in the hospital. Matar, then 24, is accused of rushing the stage and carrying out the attack. Rushdie suffered damage to his liver, lost vision in one eye, and has nerve damage in his arm that has left his hand paralyzed.
Rushdie, now 77, has expressed mixed feelings about facing Matar in court, stating he was torn between confronting his attacker and not feeling motivated to do so.
The attack also injured Henry Reese, the moderator of the event, who was hospitalized following the incident.
In addition to the charges in Chautauqua County, Matar faces a separate federal charge of providing material support to Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based militant group, which is designated as a terrorist organization by Western states, Israel, and other Arab countries.
Rushdie, who spent years in hiding after the publication of The Satanic Verses in 1988, which sparked outrage among some Muslims and led to a fatwa calling for his execution, continues to recover.
His novel was banned in several countries for its portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad, and Iran’s Supreme Leader at the time, Ayatollah Khomeini, offered a $3 million reward for his death.
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