Salman Rushdie says freedom of expression must be defended unconditionally

Author Salman Rushdie acknowledges applause as he receives the Peace Prize of the German book trade (Pool via AP)

Author Sir Salman Rushdie has called for the unconditional defence of freedom of expression as he received a prestigious German prize that recognises his literary work as well as his resolve in the face of constant danger.

The British-American author decried the current age as a time when freedom of expression is under attack by all sides, including from authoritarian and populist voices, according to the German news agency dpa.

He made his remarks during a ceremony in St Paul’s Church in Frankfurt, where he was honoured with the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade for continuing to write despite enduring decades of threats and violence.

Sir Salman was left blind in one eye after the attack last August (AP)

In August 2022, Sir Salman was stabbed repeatedly while on stage at a literary festival in New York state.

Sir Salman has a memoir coming out about the attack that left him blind in his right eye and with a damaged left hand.

Knife: Meditations After An Attempted Murder will be released on April 16. Sir Salman called it a way “to answer violence with art”.

The German prize, which is endowed with 25,000 euro (£21,768), has been awarded since 1950.

The book, about the attempt on Sir Salman’s life, will be published on April 16 (Random House via AP)

The prize jury said earlier this year that it would honour Sir Salman “for his resolve, his positive attitude to life and for the fact that he enriches the world with his pleasure in narrating”.

Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had condemned passages referring to the Prophet Mohammed in Sir Salman’s 1988 novel The Satanic Verses as blasphemous.

Khomeini issued a decree the following year calling for Sir Salman’s death, forcing the author into hiding, although he had been traveling freely for years before last summer’s stabbing.