🔗 Share this article

In excess of two dozen Olympic medal winners, mentors and additional international athletes have signed a statement demanding a halt to the death penalty of a boxing titleholder and instructor, who is sentenced to die in the nation.

Increasing Worldwide Condemnation

During rising worldwide anger over the nation's increasing application of executions as a means of suppression, the strongly worded appeal condemns the government's ruling to uphold the execution order of the boxing champion.

Vafaei Sani, 30, from Mashhad in the northern province, was arrested for taking part in national uprisings in two thousand nineteen and charged of supporting an opposition group. He has spent five years in prison, where he has been tortured and kept in isolation.

“Athletics is intended to promote optimism, unity, and courage,” the endorsers stated. “The death penalty of a titleholder for his beliefs is a clear violation on these ideals and a admonition to any competitor who dares to voice opinions.

Pattern of Putting to Death Sports Figures

The appeal said that the boxer's case was not unique and emphasized the nation's history of putting to death sports champions for their convictions, including Habib Khabiri, leader of the soccer squad, and a women's sports leader, skipper of the women's volleyball squad. In 2020, an athlete, a 27-year Iranian competitor, was also executed.

Other supporters to the statement include Tracy Edwards, who skippered the first female-only team in a round-the-world competition and was the initial female to be awarded a prestigious yachting trophy; the former skipper of the national squad an athlete; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the national team for the international competition.

Detention and Flawed Legal Process

Vafaei Sani was arrested in early 2020. The charges against him entailed “spreading corruption on Earth through incendiarism and destruction of public property”. His sentence has been overturned multiple times but on 4 October it was upheld on the latest review. His trial was criticized as “deeply biased” by human rights activists and groups.

Appeal to UN

The urging to prevent the boxer's capital punishment comes after a previous letter to the global human rights chief for freedoms, endorsed by over one hundred human rights experts and groups, urging action to avert the sports figure's death.

Capital Punishment Escalation

Based on reports, there is an “capital punishment escalation in Iran, which has attained horrific dimensions”. In 2023, the government executed at least 853 people – a nearly half rise on 2022. Last year, records showed 972 capital punishments, representing the peak figure since two thousand fifteen. More than hundreds of people have been sentenced so far in 2025.

Activists and dissidents are victims, especially in the aftermath of the 2022's demonstrations. Experts say the regime have employed the death penalty to stifle opposition, generate fear among the population and tighten their grip on power.