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In excess of twenty Olympic medal winners, trainers and other world-class competitors have put their names to a statement urging a end to the capital punishment of a boxing champion and trainer, who is on death row in the nation.

Increasing Worldwide Condemnation

Amidst rising worldwide anger over the nation's increasing application of executions as a instrument of suppression, the forcefully phrased appeal condemns the government's ruling to uphold the death sentence of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

The athlete, thirty, from Mashhad in the northern province, was arrested for taking part in national uprisings in 2019 and accused of aiding an resistance movement. He has passed half a decade in prison, where he has been mistreated and held in solitary confinement.

“Athletics is designed to encourage optimism, togetherness, and bravery,” the supporters expressed. “The capital punishment of a champion for his beliefs is a clear violation on these principles and a warning to any competitor who attempts to voice opinions.

Pattern of Executing Sports Figures

The letter said that the boxer's circumstances was part of a pattern and highlighted the nation's history of sentencing to death sports champions for their convictions, such as Habib Khabiri, captain of the national football team, and Fourouzan Abdi, leader of the female volleyball side. In the year 2020, an athlete, a 27-year-old national sports titleholder, was put to death.

Additional supporters to the statement comprise a sailing champion, who skippered the first all-female crew in a international sailing event and was the initial female to be awarded a renowned yachting trophy; the former leader of the Australian football team a sports advocate; and a footballer, who was in the country's selection for the international competition.

Arrest and Unjust Proceedings

The boxer was detained in the spring of 2020. The charges against him comprised “spreading corruption on Earth through fire-setting and ruin of state assets”. His ruling has been reversed 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 advocates and bodies.

Appeal to United Nations

The call to stop the athlete's execution comes after a earlier letter to the United Nations official for freedoms, backed by in excess of a hundred rights specialists and groups, urging measures to prevent the sports figure's death.

Death Penalty Surge

According to data, there is an “death penalty surge in the country, which has achieved alarming levels”. In 2023, the government executed at least over 850 people – a forty-eight percent surge on 2022. Last year, statistics showed nine hundred seventy-two deaths, marking the peak figure since two thousand fifteen. More than eight hundred people have been executed so far in 2025.

Activists and dissidents are targets, notably in the aftermath of the 2022's uprising. Analysts say the regime have utilized the death penalty to suppress opposition, instil fear among the public and tighten their grip on rule.