The British-Indian novelist Sir Salman Rushdie has faced his alleged attacker in court, after he was stabbed multiple times in 2022 during a public lecture in New York state. Hadi Matar, accused of assault and attempted murder, denies the charges. The author is no stranger to threats: in 1989, Iran's Supreme Leader called for his death, after deeming his novel The Satanic Verses blasphemous. Will this attack on Rushdie, a symbol of free speech himself, threaten freedom of expression?

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Will Pavia, New York Correspondent, The Times.
Robbie Millen, Literary Editor, The Times and The Sunday Times.

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Further reading: Salman Rushdie trial: I was dying, author says as he recounts attack

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What the Salman Rushdie trial means for free speech

The Story

What the Salman Rushdie trial means for free speech