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More than twenty Olympic medal winners, trainers and other world-class competitors have put their names to a letter urging a end to the execution of a champion boxer and instructor, who is sentenced to die in the country.

Increasing Worldwide Condemnation

During rising global condemnation over Iran’s escalating use of the death penalty as a instrument of suppression, the forcefully phrased letter condemns the authorities's ruling to confirm the death sentence of the boxing champion.

The athlete, three decades old, from the city in north-east Iran, was arrested for participating in countrywide demonstrations in two thousand nineteen and charged of backing an dissident organization. He has passed 60 months in incarceration, where he has been abused and held in seclusion.

“Athletics is meant to promote faith, unity, and bravery,” the supporters stated. “The capital punishment of a champion for his beliefs is a blatant attack on these ideals and a caution to all sportspeople who ventures to speak out.

History of Killing Sports Figures

The statement pointed out that the athlete's situation was not an isolated one and underscored the country's past of executing competitors for their beliefs, such as Habib Khabiri, skipper of the football side, and Fourouzan Abdi, skipper of the female volleyball side. In the year 2020, an athlete, a 27-year Iranian sports titleholder, faced the death penalty.

Other endorsers to the appeal include a yachting pioneer, who led the inaugural female-only team in a international sailing event and was the first woman to be awarded a prestigious sailing award; the previous leader of the national squad a sports advocate; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the Iranian squad for the international competition.

Apprehension and Unfair Trial

Vafaei Sani was taken into custody in early 2020. The allegations against him included “promoting decay on Earth through incendiarism and destruction of public property”. His sentence has been overturned twice but on the fourth of October it was upheld on the latest review. His trial was denounced as “grossly unfair” by human rights activists and groups.

Appeal to International Body

The urging to prevent Vafaei Sani’s death sentence comes after a 2023 letter to the UN high commissioner for rights, signed by more than a hundred rights specialists and organizations, calling for measures to avert the sports figure's execution.

Death Penalty Surge

As per findings, there is an “execution crisis in the country, which has attained horrific levels”. In two thousand twenty-three, the government executed at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a forty-eight percent increase on the previous year. In the prior period, data showed nearly a thousand executions, marking the maximum count since 2015. Over hundreds of people have been sentenced so far in 2025.

Dissidents and protesters are focus, particularly in the aftermath of the 2022's protests. Experts say the Iranian authorities have utilized the death penalty to stifle opposition, generate anxiety among the public and strengthen their hold on authority.