[5] On 12 April 1989, Aschehoug and William Nygaard were responsible for publishing the Norwegian edition of Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses.

[6] This was two months after Ayatollah Khomeini issued the following fatwa against Salman Rushdie and his publishers: Owing to the fatwa, direct threats were made against William Nygaard and translator Kari Risvik, and in the resulting controversy, Nygaard was given police protection for a period.

[9] In early October 2018, almost a quarter century after the attempted assassination, charges were made against the alleged perpetrators.

[10] In November 2021 the two were identified as the Lebanese man Khaled Moussawi and an unnamed former Iranian diplomat.

[11] Both before and after the attack, William Nygaard has been an outspoken defender of free speech, and is a board member of the Norwegian division of International PEN.