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Over two dozen Olympic medallists, trainers and additional international athletes have endorsed a statement urging a stop to the death penalty of a champion boxer and instructor, who is sentenced to die in the nation.

Increasing International Outrage

Amid increasing international outrage over the country's increasing application of executions as a tool of repression, the strongly worded statement denounces the authorities's decision to uphold the capital punishment of the boxing champion.

The boxer, three decades old, from Mashhad in the northern province, was detained for participating in national uprisings in the year 2019 and charged of supporting an resistance movement. He has spent half a decade in incarceration, where he has been tortured and kept in seclusion.

“Sport is meant to inspire hope, solidarity, and courage,” the endorsers stated. “The death penalty of a winner for his opinions is a blatant attack on these values and a admonition to any competitor who dares to voice opinions.

Pattern of Putting to Death Athletes

The statement pointed out that the boxer's circumstances was not unique and emphasized the country's record of executing competitors for their beliefs, for example Habib Khabiri, captain of the football side, and a volleyball captain, leader of the female volleyball side. In the year 2020, Navid Afkari, a 27-year-old national competitor, was also executed.

Additional signatories to the statement consist of Tracy Edwards, who skippered the inaugural all-female crew in a round-the-world competition and was the first woman to receive a prestigious nautical honor; the ex- skipper of the national squad an athlete; and a sports figure, who was in the national team for the 1978 World Cup.

Detention and Flawed Legal Process

Vafaei Sani was detained in March 2020. The accusations against him included “causing deterioration on Earth through fire-setting and damage of government belongings”. His sentence has been annulled twice but on 4 October it was maintained on the third occasion. His trial was condemned as “deeply biased” by human rights activists and bodies.

Call to International Body

The urging to halt the boxer's capital punishment follows a earlier letter to the United Nations official for human rights, backed by more than one hundred advocates and entities, calling for measures to stop the athlete’s death.

Capital Punishment Escalation

According to findings, there is an “execution crisis in Iran, which has attained alarming levels”. In two thousand twenty-three, officials executed at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a nearly half increase on 2022. In the prior period, records showed nine hundred seventy-two capital punishments, constituting the highest number since two thousand fifteen. In excess of eight hundred people have been put to death so far in 2025.

Political prisoners and protesters are focus, especially in the wake of the 2022 uprising. Experts say the regime have used the death penalty to suppress protest, generate apprehension among the public and tighten their grip on authority.