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Over 20 Olympic medal winners, mentors and other international athletes have put their names to a letter calling for a end to the death penalty of a boxing champion and coach, who is facing execution in the country.

Growing Worldwide Condemnation

Amid rising global condemnation over Iran’s increasing application of the death penalty as a instrument of repression, the forcefully phrased statement censures the authorities's decision to uphold the capital punishment of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

The athlete, three decades old, from Mashhad in the northeastern region, was detained for taking part in national uprisings in the year 2019 and charged of aiding an opposition group. He has endured 60 months in detention, where he has been mistreated and confined in isolation.

“Sport is intended to encourage hope, unity, and courage,” the signatories wrote. “The execution of a titleholder for his beliefs is a direct assault on these principles and a warning to all sportspeople who ventures to express dissent.

History of Putting to Death Athletes

The appeal said that the athlete's circumstances was not an isolated one and underscored the country's history of sentencing to death athletes for their convictions, for example Habib Khabiri, leader of the national football team, and Fourouzan Abdi, leader of the women's volleyball squad. In 2020, Navid Afkari, a 27-year-old national competitor, was put to death.

Additional endorsers to the statement consist of Tracy Edwards, who led the pioneering women's squad in a round-the-world competition and was the initial female to be awarded a prestigious nautical honor; the former captain of the soccer side Craig Foster; and a footballer, who was in the country's selection for the international competition.

Detention and Unfair Trial

The athlete was arrested in March 2020. The allegations against him comprised “causing deterioration on Earth through fire-setting and damage of state assets”. His sentence has been annulled multiple times but on the fourth of October it was upheld on the third attempt. His trial was denounced as “deeply biased” by human rights activists and bodies.

Appeal to International Body

The urging to halt the boxer's execution comes after a 2023 letter to the UN high commissioner for rights, backed by in excess of a hundred advocates and organizations, calling for intervention to prevent the sports figure's capital punishment.

Execution Crisis

According to reports, there is an “death penalty surge in the nation, which has achieved alarming levels”. In two thousand twenty-three, the government sentenced at least over 850 people – a nearly half rise on 2022. Last year, data showed nearly a thousand capital punishments, representing the peak figure since the year 2015. In excess of 800 people have been executed so far in the current year.

Dissidents and opponents are focus, especially in the aftermath of the the year 2022 demonstrations. Specialists say the government have utilized the death penalty to suppress dissent, create fear among the citizenry and tighten their hold on rule.