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Over twenty Olympic medallists, trainers and further world-class competitors have put their names to a letter demanding a stop to the death penalty of a boxing titleholder and instructor, who is facing execution in the nation.

Escalating Global Anger

Amid increasing global condemnation over the nation's expanding employment of executions as a means of oppression, the strongly worded statement censures the authorities's ruling to uphold the capital punishment of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

The athlete, 30, from the city in the northern province, was taken into custody for participating in national uprisings in two thousand nineteen and accused of aiding an resistance movement. He has passed 60 months in incarceration, where he has been tortured and kept in isolation.

“Competition is designed to inspire optimism, solidarity, and fortitude,” the endorsers stated. “The death penalty of a titleholder for his beliefs is a direct assault on these ideals and a caution to all sportspeople who attempts to speak out.

Record of Killing Sports Figures

The letter pointed out that the boxer's case was not unique and underscored the nation's history of sentencing to death athletes for their beliefs, including Habib Khabiri, captain of the national football team, and Fourouzan Abdi, captain of the national women’s volleyball team. In 2020, a wrestling champion, a young Iranian competitor, faced the death penalty.

Additional supporters to the letter include a yachting pioneer, who skippered the pioneering all-female crew in a global yacht race and was the first woman to receive a esteemed yachting trophy; the former skipper of the national squad Craig Foster; and a sports figure, who was in the national team for the 1978 World Cup.

Detention and Unfair Trial

The athlete was taken into custody in early 2020. The allegations against him comprised “promoting decay on Earth through incendiarism and damage of government belongings”. His sentence has been overturned twice but on the fourth of October it was maintained on the latest review. His court case was denounced as “deeply biased” by rights defenders and groups.

Urging to United Nations

The call to stop Vafaei Sani’s execution is subsequent to a 2023 letter to the United Nations official for freedoms, backed by more than one hundred human rights experts and entities, demanding action to avert the athlete’s capital punishment.

Capital Punishment Escalation

Based on data, there is an “death penalty surge in the nation, which has reached alarming levels”. In two thousand twenty-three, authorities sentenced at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a 48% rise on 2022. In the prior period, records showed nearly a thousand deaths, representing the peak figure since two thousand fifteen. In excess of hundreds of people have been put to death so far in 2025.

Political prisoners and protesters are focus, especially in the aftermath of the the year 2022 demonstrations. Specialists say the government have utilized the capital punishment to quell opposition, create fear among the population and tighten their grip on authority.