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Over two dozen Olympic medal winners, mentors and other world-class competitors have signed a appeal demanding a stop to the execution of a boxing champion and trainer, who is sentenced to die in Iran.

Growing Worldwide Condemnation

Amidst increasing global condemnation over the nation's increasing application of executions as a instrument of repression, the forcefully phrased letter denounces the Iranian regime's decision to maintain the capital punishment of the boxing champion.

The athlete, 30, from the city in north-east Iran, was detained for participating in national uprisings in two thousand nineteen and accused of supporting an resistance movement. He has passed five years in incarceration, where he has been tortured and confined in solitary confinement.

“Sport is designed to inspire faith, solidarity, and courage,” the supporters expressed. “The death penalty of a winner for his beliefs is a direct assault on these values and a admonition to every athlete who attempts to express dissent.

History of Killing Competitors

The letter said that the athlete's case was not unique and underscored the nation's record of executing sports champions for their convictions, such as Habib Khabiri, captain of the national football team, and a volleyball captain, captain of the female volleyball side. In 2020, Navid Afkari, a young national sports titleholder, was also executed.

Additional endorsers to the letter include a sailing champion, who captained the first all-female crew in a global yacht race and was the initial female to receive a renowned sailing award; the former leader of the Australian football team Craig Foster; and a footballer, who was in the national team for the international competition.

Apprehension and Flawed Legal Process

Vafaei Sani was arrested in the spring of 2020. The accusations against him included “promoting decay on Earth through incendiarism and destruction of government belongings”. His sentence has been annulled multiple times but on the fourth of October it was maintained on the third attempt. His legal proceedings was condemned as “deeply biased” by human rights activists and groups.

Call to United Nations

The urging to stop Vafaei Sani’s execution is subsequent to a earlier appeal to the UN high commissioner for freedoms, signed by more than a hundred rights specialists and organizations, demanding measures to avert the sports figure's capital punishment.

Death Penalty Surge

As per data, there is an “capital punishment escalation in Iran, which has attained horrific dimensions”. In 2023, the government executed at least 853 people – a nearly half surge on 2022. In the prior period, data showed 972 executions, constituting the highest number since two thousand fifteen. More than 800 people have been executed so far in 2025.

Political prisoners and dissidents are focus, notably in the wake of the the year 2022 protests. Specialists say the Iranian authorities have utilized the death penalty to stifle dissent, create apprehension among the citizenry and tighten their control on rule.