‘MAHSA’ Act Advances in US Senate

 A woman carrying a picture of the Iranian activist Mahsa Amini in Brussels last September (AFP)
A woman carrying a picture of the Iranian activist Mahsa Amini in Brussels last September (AFP)
TT

‘MAHSA’ Act Advances in US Senate

 A woman carrying a picture of the Iranian activist Mahsa Amini in Brussels last September (AFP)
A woman carrying a picture of the Iranian activist Mahsa Amini in Brussels last September (AFP)

After more than 7 months of approval in the House of Representatives, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee announced it will discuss the Mahsa Amini Human rights and Security Accountability Act (MAHSA Act) on April 16.

The bipartisan legislation passed the House of Representatives with overwhelming majority in September 2023, but has not yet been moved forward for a vote in the Senate.

It is named after the 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian girl whose death in police custody in September 2022 sparked country-wide protests, challenging the Iranian regime like never before.

Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ben Cardin decided to put the bill on the agenda after previously holding back.

This move was welcomed by supporters of the bill, like Republican Representative Jim Banks, who urged for its vote to honor Amini’s memory and hold Iran accountable for human rights abuses.

Banks urged Chuck Schumer, the current Senate majority leader, to put the bill to vote in the Senate.

In a post on “X,” he highlighted two main points: the sanctions mentioned in the legislation and the upcoming steps and challenges.

The MAHSA Act, passed overwhelmingly by the House of Representatives with 410 votes, urges the US government to impose sanctions on top Iranian figures, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi, for human rights violations and supporting terrorism.

The bill requires the Biden administration to impose these sanctions within 90 days and freeze the assets of Iranian officials involved in human rights abuses.

Republican House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Mike McCaul criticized the Biden administration for not applying existing sanction laws against Iranian officials despite their roles in human rights violations.

He also accused the administration of pursuing a political agenda in dealing with Iran, cautioning against sacrificing the Iranian people’s interests for a flawed nuclear deal.

These criticisms have raised doubts about the Biden administration’s willingness to sign such legislation.

Banks urged Democratic leader Chuck Schumer to put the bill to a vote in the Senate.

While its discussion in the committee is important for party unity, it doesn’t guarantee a vote. The final decision rests with Schumer, who hasn’t revealed his stance yet.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee may propose amendments during the expected debate on the bill. This means the final version will differ from the House's.

Hence, the House will need to vote again to align the text before sending it to the White House for the President’s signature.

Additionally, the committee will discuss two more bills to impose extra sanctions on Iran: one targeting the oil sector and the other aimed at the drone and missile program and its exporters.



Man Who Stabbed Author Salman Rushdie on Stage Has Been Sentenced to 25 years in Prison

Hadi Matar arrives for his trial on charges of second-degree attempted murder and second-degree assault dating to an attack on Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie, at Chautauqua County Court in Mayville, New York, US February 11, 2025. REUTERS/Robert Frank/File Photo
Hadi Matar arrives for his trial on charges of second-degree attempted murder and second-degree assault dating to an attack on Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie, at Chautauqua County Court in Mayville, New York, US February 11, 2025. REUTERS/Robert Frank/File Photo
TT

Man Who Stabbed Author Salman Rushdie on Stage Has Been Sentenced to 25 years in Prison

Hadi Matar arrives for his trial on charges of second-degree attempted murder and second-degree assault dating to an attack on Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie, at Chautauqua County Court in Mayville, New York, US February 11, 2025. REUTERS/Robert Frank/File Photo
Hadi Matar arrives for his trial on charges of second-degree attempted murder and second-degree assault dating to an attack on Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie, at Chautauqua County Court in Mayville, New York, US February 11, 2025. REUTERS/Robert Frank/File Photo

The man convicted of stabbing Salman Rushdie on a New York lecture stage in 2022, leaving the prizewinning author blind in one eye, was sentenced Friday to serve 25 years in prison.
A jury found Hadi Matar, 27, guilty of attempted murder and assault in February, The AP news reported.
Rushdie did not return to court to the western New York courtroom for his assailant’s sentencing but submitted a victim impact statement. During the trial, the 77-year-old author was the key witness, describing how he believed he was dying when a masked attacker plunged a knife into his head and body more than a dozen times as he was being introduced at the Chautauqua Institution to speak about writer safety.
Before being sentenced, Matar stood and made a statement about freedom of speech in which he called Rushdie a hypocrite.
Matar received the maximum 25-year sentence for the attempted murder of Rushdie and seven years for wounding a man who was on stage with him. The sentences must run concurrently because both victims were injured in the same event, District Attorney Jason Schmidt said.
In requesting the maximum sentence, Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt told the judge that Matar “chose this. He designed this attack so that he could inflict the most amount of damage, not just upon Mr. Rushdie, but upon this community, upon the 1,400 people who were there to watch it.”
Public defender Nathaniel Barone pointed out that Matar had a otherwise clean criminal record and disputed that the people in the audience should be considered victims, suggesting that a sentence of 12 years would be appropriate.
Rushdie spent 17 days at a Pennsylvania hospital and more than three weeks at a New York City rehabilitation center. The author of “Midnight's Children,” “The Moor’s Last Sigh" and “Victory City” detailed his recovery in his 2024 memoir, “Knife.”
Matar next faces a federal trial on terrorism-related charges. While the first trial focused mostly on the details of the knife attack itself, the next one is expected to delve into the more complicated issue of motive.
Authorities said Matar, a US citizen, was attempting to carry out a decades-old fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie’s death when he traveled from his home in Fairview, New Jersey, to target Rushdie at the summer retreat about 70 miles (112.6 kilometers) southwest of Buffalo.
Matar pleaded not guilty to a three-count indictment charging him with providing material to terrorists, attempting to provide material support to Hezbollah and engaging in terrorism transcending national boundaries.
Video of the assault, captured by the venue's cameras and played at trial, show Matar approaching the seated Rushdie from behind and reaching around him to stab at his torso with a knife. As the audience gasps and screams, Rushdie is seen raising his arms and rising from his seat, walking and stumbling for a few steps with Matar hanging on, swinging and stabbing until they both fall and are surrounded by onlookers who rush in to separate them.
Jurors in Matar's first trial delivered their verdict after less than two hours of deliberation.