More than 20 Olympic medal winners, mentors and other global sports figures have signed a letter urging a stop to the capital punishment of a champion boxer and coach, who is sentenced to die in the nation.
Amid rising global condemnation over the nation's increasing application of capital punishment as a means of oppression, the powerfully expressed appeal condemns the Iranian regime's decision to maintain the capital punishment of the boxing champion.
The athlete, three decades old, from the city in the northern province, was taken into custody for taking part in countrywide demonstrations in the year 2019 and accused of supporting an opposition group. He has passed five years in detention, where he has been mistreated and kept in seclusion.
āCompetition is meant to promote hope, solidarity, and fortitude,ā the endorsers stated. āThe execution of a champion for his beliefs is a blatant attack on these principles and a warning to all sportspeople who dares to speak out.
The letter noted that the boxer's case was part of a pattern and highlighted the country's history of sentencing to death athletes for their beliefs, for example a national team leader, captain of the national football team, and a volleyball captain, captain of the women's volleyball squad. In two thousand twenty, an athlete, a 27-year national sports titleholder, faced the death penalty.
Further signatories to the letter include Tracy Edwards, who led the pioneering women's squad in a global yacht race and was the initial female to receive a prestigious yachting trophy; the ex- captain of the soccer side a sports advocate; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the national team for the global tournament.
Vafaei Sani was taken into custody in the spring of 2020. The charges against him comprised ācausing deterioration on Earth through fire-setting and ruin of public propertyā. His sentence has been annulled multiple times but on October 4 it was upheld on the latest review. His court case was condemned as āgrossly unfairā by advocates and organizations.
The urging to halt Vafaei Saniās capital punishment comes after a earlier letter to the United Nations official for human rights, signed by over 100 rights specialists and entities, demanding measures to stop the competitor's death.
Based on findings, there is an ācapital punishment escalation in Iran, which has attained horrific dimensionsā. In two thousand twenty-three, the government executed at least over 850 people ā a nearly half surge on 2022. Last year, statistics showed nearly a thousand capital punishments, marking the highest number since the year 2015. More than 800 people have been executed so far in 2025.
Activists and protesters are targets, particularly in the aftermath of the the year 2022 demonstrations. Specialists say the Iranian authorities have used the capital punishment to suppress dissent, generate anxiety among the citizenry and strengthen their grip on authority.
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