The trial of New Jersey man Hadi Matar has been put on hold over the knife attack that injured Salman Rushdie

The attempted murder trial of the man charged with seriously injuring author Salman Rushdie in a 2022 knife attack was put on hold on Friday while judges consider a request to be transferred to another county.

The video in the player above is from a previous report.

Jury selection was scheduled to begin Tuesday.

Late Friday, an appeals judge in Rochester halted proceedings until the court rules on a request from Hadi Matar’s attorney to change the venue from Chautauqua County, where the attack occurred.

The court could rule on the motion as early as Tuesday — courts are closed Monday — but the hearing has been taken off the calendar until further notice, District Attorney Jason Schmidt said.

“It presents us with another level of difficulty and challenge,” he said. “I’m disappointed.”

Matar’s attorney, Nathaniel Barone, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Matar has been held without bail since he stormed the stage as Rushdie prepared to speak at the Chautauqua Institution and stabbed him more than a dozen times before being subdued by onlookers.

The author of The Satanic Verses was blind in one eye. The event’s moderator, Henry Reese, was also injured.

Matar pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and assault.

In a separate indictment, federal authorities allege that Matar was motivated by a terrorist organization’s endorsement of a fatwa, or edict, that called for Rushdie’s death. A separate trial will be held in U.S. District Court in Buffalo on the federal charges of terrorism crossing national borders, providing material support to a terrorist and attempting to provide material support to a terrorist organization.