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In excess of twenty Olympic medallists, trainers and other international athletes have signed a letter calling for a end to the execution of a champion boxer and trainer, who is on death row in the nation.

Increasing Global Anger

Amid growing global condemnation over the nation's expanding employment of capital punishment as a tool of oppression, the powerfully expressed statement condemns the Iranian regime's decision to confirm the capital punishment of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

Vafaei Sani, three decades old, from Mashhad in north-east Iran, was arrested for participating in nationwide protests in 2019 and charged of backing an opposition group. He has spent 60 months in detention, where he has been mistreated and kept in isolation.

“Competition is intended to inspire optimism, solidarity, and fortitude,” the supporters expressed. “The death penalty of a winner for his opinions is a clear violation on these principles and a warning to any competitor who ventures to voice opinions.

Record of Executing Sports Figures

The letter said that the boxer's circumstances was not unique and highlighted the country's history of sentencing to death athletes for their convictions, such as Habib Khabiri, captain of the football side, and a women's sports leader, captain of the women's volleyball squad. In the year 2020, a wrestling champion, a 27-year-old national sports titleholder, was also executed.

Other supporters to the appeal include a yachting pioneer, who skippered the inaugural women's squad in a global yacht race and was the initial female to be awarded a renowned nautical honor; the ex- leader of the national squad a sports advocate; and a sports figure, who was in the country's selection for the international competition.

Detention and Flawed Legal Process

The boxer was arrested in early 2020. The accusations against him entailed “spreading corruption on Earth through arson and destruction of public property”. His ruling has been annulled on two occasions but on October 4 it was maintained on the third attempt. His trial was condemned as “highly unjust” by advocates and groups.

Appeal to United Nations

The call to prevent Vafaei Sani’s capital punishment comes after a previous statement to the UN high commissioner for rights, endorsed by in excess of a hundred human rights experts and organizations, urging intervention to stop the sports figure's execution.

Death Penalty Surge

As per reports, there is an “capital punishment escalation in the country, which has reached shocking levels”. In two thousand twenty-three, the government sentenced at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a nearly half increase on the previous year. In the prior period, data showed nearly a thousand capital punishments, representing the highest number since the year 2015. Over eight hundred people have been sentenced so far in 2025.

Activists and protesters are targets, particularly in the aftermath of the 2022 protests. Specialists say the regime have utilized the executions to stifle protest, generate anxiety among the population and strengthen their hold on authority.