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Over twenty Olympic medallists, coaches and other world-class competitors have signed a letter demanding a stop to the execution of a boxing titleholder and instructor, who is facing execution in the nation.

Increasing Worldwide Condemnation

During increasing global condemnation over the nation's increasing application of the death penalty as a means of oppression, the strongly worded statement censures the government's ruling to uphold the capital punishment of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

The boxer, three decades old, from Mashhad in north-east Iran, was taken into custody for taking part in national uprisings in 2019 and indicted of supporting an resistance movement. He has spent five years in prison, where he has been mistreated and confined in isolation.

“Competition is designed to encourage hope, solidarity, and bravery,” the supporters stated. “The capital punishment of a titleholder for his beliefs is a blatant attack on these values and a warning to every athlete who ventures to voice opinions.

Record of Putting to Death Competitors

The appeal noted that Vafaei Sani’s circumstances was not unique and emphasized the country's history of sentencing to death competitors for their beliefs, for example Habib Khabiri, skipper of the football side, and Fourouzan Abdi, skipper of the female volleyball side. In the year 2020, a wrestling champion, a young Iranian sports titleholder, was put to death.

Other supporters to the letter consist of a sailing champion, who skippered the pioneering all-female crew in a round-the-world competition and was the first woman to be awarded a esteemed yachting trophy; the previous leader of the soccer side a sports advocate; and a footballer, who was in the country's selection for the international competition.

Apprehension and Unjust Proceedings

The boxer was arrested in the spring of 2020. The allegations against him entailed “promoting decay on Earth through arson and ruin of government belongings”. His ruling has been annulled on two occasions but on 4 October it was upheld on the third occasion. His legal proceedings was criticized as “grossly unfair” by rights defenders and bodies.

Call to International Body

The appeal to halt Vafaei Sani’s capital punishment comes after a 2023 appeal to the UN high commissioner for freedoms, backed by over 100 advocates and organizations, urging intervention to avert the competitor's death.

Execution Crisis

According to findings, there is an “death penalty surge in the nation, which has reached alarming levels”. In two thousand twenty-three, the government sentenced at least over 850 people – a forty-eight percent surge on the previous year. In the prior period, statistics showed nearly a thousand capital punishments, marking the highest number since two thousand fifteen. In excess of eight hundred people have been executed so far in 2025.

Activists and opponents are focus, notably in the wake of the the year 2022 demonstrations. Analysts say the government have used the capital punishment to suppress protest, create apprehension among the population and reinforce their hold on rule.