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Over 20 Olympic medallists, coaches and additional world-class competitors have put their names to a appeal demanding a end to the death penalty of a champion boxer and trainer, who is on death row in Iran.

Escalating Global Anger

Amid increasing worldwide anger over the country's expanding employment of the death penalty as a instrument of oppression, the forcefully phrased appeal censures the authorities's verdict to confirm the execution order of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

The boxer, 30, from Mashhad in the northeastern region, was detained for participating in countrywide demonstrations in 2019 and accused of supporting an opposition group. He has spent half a decade in prison, where he has been tortured and held in solitary confinement.

“Sport is designed to encourage faith, togetherness, and bravery,” the signatories stated. “The capital punishment of a champion for his political views is a clear violation on these values and a warning to all sportspeople who ventures to voice opinions.

Pattern of Killing Competitors

The appeal said that the athlete's case was part of a pattern and emphasized Iran’s past of putting to death sports champions for their views, for example a national team leader, captain of the national football team, and a volleyball captain, captain of the women's volleyball squad. In two thousand twenty, Navid Afkari, a 27-year Iranian sports titleholder, faced the death penalty.

Additional signatories to the letter comprise Tracy Edwards, who skippered the first all-female crew in a international sailing event and was the pioneering lady to earn a renowned nautical honor; the former skipper of the soccer side an athlete; and a sports figure, who was in the national team for the international competition.

Arrest and Unjust Proceedings

The athlete was taken into custody in the spring of 2020. The charges against him comprised “spreading corruption on Earth through fire-setting and damage of public property”. His sentence has been annulled on two occasions but on October 4 it was confirmed on the third occasion. His trial was condemned as “highly unjust” by human rights activists and organizations.

Call to UN

The appeal to halt the boxer's execution comes after a 2023 appeal to the UN high commissioner for human rights, signed by in excess of a hundred human rights experts and organizations, demanding intervention to avert the competitor's execution.

Capital Punishment Escalation

According to reports, there is an “death penalty surge in the country, which has attained shocking dimensions”. In the year 2023, officials sentenced at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a forty-eight percent surge on 2022. Last year, records showed 972 capital punishments, representing the highest number since 2015. In excess of hundreds of people have been put to death so far in 2025.

Dissidents and dissidents are victims, particularly in the aftermath of the 2022's protests. Experts say the regime have employed the executions to quell dissent, generate anxiety among the public and tighten their grip on rule.