 The man charged with stabbing author Salman Rushdie in 2022 has rejected a plea deal that would have shortened his state prison term but would have exposed him to a federal terrorism-related charge. The lawyer for Hadi Matar confirmed the rejection of the agreement. Rushdie has spent years in hiding after the Ayatollah of Iran called for his death over his novel The Satanic Verses, which some Muslims consider blasphemous. Rushdie was stabbed in an amphitheater in upstate New York where he was about to speak about the importance of keeping writers safe from harm.