🔗 Share this article

In excess of 20 Olympic medallists, mentors and further international athletes have endorsed a statement demanding a end to the execution of a boxing titleholder and instructor, who is sentenced to die in Iran.

Growing International Outrage

Amid increasing global condemnation over the country's expanding employment of the death penalty as a instrument of suppression, the powerfully expressed statement denounces the government's ruling to maintain the capital punishment of the boxing champion.

The athlete, three decades old, from Mashhad in the northeastern region, was arrested for participating in national uprisings in two thousand nineteen and accused of aiding an dissident organization. He has passed five years in incarceration, where he has been tortured and kept in isolation.

“Sport is intended to inspire hope, solidarity, and fortitude,” the endorsers wrote. “The execution of a titleholder for his political views is a direct assault on these principles and a warning to any competitor who ventures to voice opinions.

Pattern of Killing Competitors

The letter noted that Vafaei Sani’s situation was not unique and emphasized the nation's history of sentencing to death competitors for their views, such as Habib Khabiri, leader of the soccer squad, and a women's sports leader, captain of the female volleyball side. In two thousand twenty, a wrestling champion, a 27-year-old Iranian competitor, was also executed.

Additional supporters to the appeal comprise a sailing champion, who captained the pioneering all-female crew in a global yacht race and was the initial female to be awarded a renowned sailing award; the ex- leader of the national squad Craig Foster; and a footballer, who was in the Iranian squad for the international competition.

Detention and Unjust Proceedings

The athlete was detained in the spring of 2020. The allegations against him entailed “causing deterioration on Earth through fire-setting and ruin of government belongings”. His sentence has been annulled twice but on October 4 it was maintained on the third attempt. His court case was condemned as “grossly unfair” by advocates and groups.

Call to UN

The urging to prevent Vafaei Sani’s execution comes after a previous letter to the global human rights chief for rights, endorsed by more than a hundred rights specialists and groups, calling for measures to avert the competitor's death.

Death Penalty Surge

As per reports, there is an “death penalty surge in the country, which has achieved horrific dimensions”. In 2023, authorities sentenced at least over 850 people – a forty-eight percent surge on the previous year. In the prior period, records showed nine hundred seventy-two deaths, marking the peak figure since two thousand fifteen. Over eight hundred people have been sentenced so far in the current year.

Activists and protesters are targets, notably in the wake of the 2022's uprising. Specialists say the regime have employed the executions to suppress protest, generate anxiety among the population and tighten their hold on power.