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In excess of two dozen Olympic medallists, mentors and further international athletes have endorsed a appeal urging a stop to the execution of a champion boxer and coach, who is on death row in the nation.

Escalating Worldwide Condemnation

During rising international outrage over the country's increasing application of the death penalty as a instrument of oppression, the strongly worded appeal condemns the authorities's decision to confirm the death sentence of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

The athlete, 30, from the city in the northeastern region, was taken into custody for taking part in countrywide demonstrations in 2019 and indicted of supporting an dissident organization. He has passed 60 months in prison, where he has been tortured and confined in solitary confinement.

“Competition is intended to promote faith, solidarity, and bravery,” the supporters wrote. “The capital punishment of a titleholder for his beliefs is a direct assault on these ideals and a caution to every athlete who dares to express dissent.

History of Killing Sports Figures

The statement said that the athlete's circumstances was not an isolated one and emphasized Iran’s past of sentencing to death sports champions for their views, for example Habib Khabiri, leader of the soccer squad, and Fourouzan Abdi, skipper of the national women’s volleyball team. In two thousand twenty, a wrestling champion, a 27-year national wrestling champion, was also executed.

Further endorsers to the statement consist of Tracy Edwards, who led the pioneering women's squad in a international sailing event and was the first woman to earn a esteemed yachting trophy; the previous leader of the national squad an athlete; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the Iranian squad for the global tournament.

Arrest and Flawed Legal Process

The athlete was taken into custody in March 2020. The allegations against him comprised “promoting decay on Earth through incendiarism and ruin of public property”. His sentence has been overturned on two occasions but on the fourth of October it was maintained on the third attempt. His court case was criticized as “highly unjust” by rights defenders and organizations.

Appeal to UN

The appeal to halt Vafaei Sani’s capital punishment follows a earlier appeal to the UN high commissioner for human rights, endorsed by in excess of one hundred advocates and groups, urging measures to avert the competitor's execution.

Capital Punishment Escalation

As per reports, there is an “death penalty surge in the nation, which has reached alarming dimensions”. In the year 2023, authorities executed at least over 850 people – a forty-eight percent surge on 2022. In the prior period, records showed nine hundred seventy-two deaths, marking the highest number since two thousand fifteen. In excess of 800 people have been put to death so far in 2025.

Political prisoners and protesters are targets, notably in the wake of the the year 2022 uprising. Experts say the government have used the death penalty to quell dissent, instil apprehension among the population and tighten their grip on rule.