William Nygaard - Failed Assassination

Failed Assassination

On 12 April 1989 Aschehoug and William Nygaard was responsible for publishing the Norwegian edition of Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses. This was two months after Ayatollah Khomeini issued the following fatwa against Salman Rushdie and his publishers:

I inform all zealous Muslims of the world that the author of the book entitled The Satanic Verses — which has been compiled, printed and published in opposition to Islam, the Prophet, and the Qur'an — and all those involved in its publication who were aware of its content, are sentenced to death. I call on all zealous Muslims to execute them quickly, wherever they may be found, so that no one else will dare to insult the Muslim sanctities. God Willing, whoever is killed on this path is a martyr.

Owing to the fatwa, direct threats against William Nygaard and translator Kari Risvik, and the resulting controversy, Nygaard was given police protection for a period.

On the morning of 11 October 1993, Nygaard was shot three times outside his home in Dagaliveien in Oslo. Although the crime has never been solved, most people — including Nygaard — link the incident to the fatwa. After several months of hospitalization, most of the time at Sunnaas Hospital, Nygaard slowly recovered.