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In excess of two dozen Olympic medal winners, coaches and additional world-class competitors have put their names to a statement demanding a stop to the death penalty of a boxing titleholder and trainer, who is on death row in the country.

Growing Worldwide Condemnation

Amidst rising international outrage over Iran’s increasing application of the death penalty as a instrument of repression, the powerfully expressed statement censures the Iranian regime's ruling to maintain the death sentence of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

Vafaei Sani, thirty, from Mashhad in north-east Iran, was taken into custody for taking part in countrywide demonstrations in 2019 and accused of aiding an resistance movement. He has endured five years in incarceration, where he has been mistreated and kept in solitary confinement.

“Sport is intended to promote faith, solidarity, and courage,” the endorsers expressed. “The capital punishment of a titleholder for his opinions is a blatant attack on these ideals and a admonition to all sportspeople who dares to speak out.

Pattern of Killing Athletes

The letter pointed out that the boxer's situation was not unique and highlighted the nation's past of executing athletes for their views, for example a football captain, leader of the national football team, and a volleyball captain, skipper of the female volleyball side. In the year 2020, an athlete, a 27-year national wrestling champion, was also executed.

Other supporters to the letter include a sailing champion, who led the first women's squad in a round-the-world competition and was the initial female to receive a renowned nautical honor; the ex- captain of the soccer side an athlete; and a footballer, who was in the national team for the international competition.

Apprehension and Unfair Trial

The boxer was arrested in early 2020. The allegations against him comprised “causing deterioration on Earth through fire-setting and ruin of state assets”. His sentence has been overturned twice but on October 4 it was confirmed on the latest review. His legal proceedings was criticized as “grossly unfair” by human rights activists and bodies.

Call to UN

The urging to stop Vafaei Sani’s death sentence is subsequent to a 2023 letter to the United Nations official for rights, endorsed by more than one hundred advocates and organizations, demanding action to stop the sports figure's execution.

Capital Punishment Escalation

Based on data, there is an “capital punishment escalation in the nation, which has attained horrific proportions”. In the year 2023, the government sentenced at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a forty-eight percent rise on the previous year. In the prior period, statistics showed 972 deaths, representing the peak figure since the year 2015. Over 800 people have been executed so far in 2025.

Political prisoners and dissidents are focus, notably in the aftermath of the the year 2022 demonstrations. Experts say the regime have utilized the death penalty to quell protest, instil apprehension among the population and tighten their grip on power.