🔗 Share this article

Over twenty Olympic champions, mentors and further world-class competitors have endorsed a statement urging a stop to the capital punishment of a champion boxer and trainer, who is facing execution in the nation.

Growing Worldwide Condemnation

Amid increasing global condemnation over Iran’s expanding employment of executions as a instrument of suppression, the strongly worded statement condemns the authorities's ruling to uphold the capital punishment of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

The boxer, 30, from the city in the northern province, was arrested for being involved in countrywide demonstrations in the year 2019 and indicted of supporting an opposition group. He has passed 60 months in incarceration, where he has been tortured and confined in isolation.

“Athletics is intended to promote optimism, unity, and courage,” the supporters stated. “The capital punishment of a winner for his opinions is a clear violation on these principles and a admonition to all sportspeople who ventures to speak out.

Record of Killing Competitors

The letter noted that the athlete's case was not an isolated one and underscored the country's past of putting to death competitors for their convictions, such as Habib Khabiri, skipper of the soccer squad, and a volleyball captain, skipper of the national women’s volleyball team. In 2020, a wrestling champion, a young Iranian sports titleholder, was also executed.

Further supporters to the statement include Tracy Edwards, who captained the pioneering women's squad in a international sailing event and was the pioneering lady to receive a esteemed yachting trophy; the ex- captain of the Australian football team a sports advocate; and a footballer, who was in the country's selection for the 1978 World Cup.

Arrest and Flawed Legal Process

The boxer was taken into custody in the spring of 2020. The accusations against him comprised “spreading corruption on Earth through fire-setting and destruction of state assets”. His ruling has been overturned twice but on the fourth of October it was maintained on the third attempt. His court case was criticized as “highly unjust” by human rights activists and groups.

Appeal to International Body

The call to stop the boxer's execution follows a 2023 statement to the United Nations official for human rights, signed by over a hundred human rights experts and groups, demanding intervention to prevent the competitor's death.

Execution Crisis

As per findings, there is an “execution crisis in the country, which has achieved shocking dimensions”. In two thousand twenty-three, officials sentenced at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a 48% increase on 2022. In the prior period, statistics showed nine hundred seventy-two executions, marking the maximum count since 2015. In excess of 800 people have been sentenced so far in the current year.

Political prisoners and dissidents are victims, notably in the wake of the the year 2022 demonstrations. Specialists say the government have utilized the executions to stifle dissent, create fear among the citizenry and strengthen their grip on power.