🔗 Share this article

In excess of two dozen Olympic champions, mentors and additional world-class competitors have put their names to a letter urging a halt to the capital punishment of a boxing titleholder and instructor, who is facing execution in Iran.

Growing Global Anger

Amid rising worldwide anger over the country's increasing application of executions as a instrument of repression, the forcefully phrased statement censures the government's ruling to confirm the capital punishment of the athlete.

The athlete, thirty, from Mashhad in the northern province, was detained for participating in nationwide protests in the year 2019 and charged of aiding an dissident organization. He has endured five years in detention, where he has been mistreated and held in isolation.

“Athletics is meant to promote hope, solidarity, and fortitude,” the endorsers expressed. “The execution of a titleholder for his political views is a blatant attack on these ideals and a caution to any competitor who ventures to express dissent.

Record of Executing Competitors

The letter said that the boxer's circumstances was not an isolated one and underscored Iran’s record of executing athletes for their views, including a football captain, leader of the soccer squad, and Fourouzan Abdi, skipper of the women's volleyball squad. In two thousand twenty, Navid Afkari, a 27-year national sports titleholder, was put to death.

Additional endorsers to the letter include a sailing champion, who led the inaugural all-female crew in a round-the-world competition and was the pioneering lady to earn a prestigious nautical honor; the previous leader of the national squad an athlete; and a sports figure, who was in the Iranian squad for the global tournament.

Apprehension and Unjust Proceedings

The boxer was taken into custody in early 2020. The allegations against him entailed “spreading corruption on Earth through arson and ruin of state assets”. His sentence has been overturned on two occasions but on 4 October it was confirmed on the third attempt. His court case was condemned as “grossly unfair” by rights defenders and groups.

Appeal to United Nations

The call to halt Vafaei Sani’s capital punishment follows a earlier statement to the UN high commissioner for freedoms, signed by more than 100 human rights experts and organizations, calling for intervention to stop the competitor's capital punishment.

Death Penalty Surge

Based on data, there is an “death penalty surge in Iran, which has reached horrific levels”. In the year 2023, officials put to death at least 853 people – a 48% increase on the previous year. In the prior period, statistics showed 972 executions, constituting the highest number since two thousand fifteen. Over hundreds of people have been sentenced so far in 2025.

Dissidents and opponents are focus, notably in the wake of the 2022's demonstrations. Analysts say the regime have utilized the death penalty to quell dissent, create anxiety among the population and strengthen their grip on rule.