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In excess of two dozen Olympic medallists, mentors and further international athletes have put their names to a letter urging a halt to the death penalty of a champion boxer and coach, who is sentenced to die in the nation.

Growing Global Anger

Amid increasing global condemnation over the nation's escalating use of the death penalty as a means of suppression, the forcefully phrased appeal denounces the Iranian regime's ruling to confirm the death sentence of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

Vafaei Sani, thirty, from Mashhad in the northeastern region, was detained for being involved in nationwide protests in two thousand nineteen and indicted of supporting an dissident organization. He has passed half a decade in detention, where he has been tortured and confined in isolation.

“Competition is meant to encourage hope, togetherness, and fortitude,” the supporters stated. “The capital punishment of a titleholder for his political views is a clear violation on these principles and a warning to every athlete who ventures to speak out.

History of Putting to Death Athletes

The letter said that the boxer's circumstances was part of a pattern and emphasized Iran’s past of executing sports champions for their views, including a national team leader, skipper of the soccer squad, and a women's sports leader, leader of the female volleyball side. In the year 2020, an athlete, a 27-year-old national sports titleholder, was also executed.

Additional supporters to the letter consist of a sailing champion, who led the inaugural female-only team in a round-the-world competition and was the initial female to earn a esteemed nautical honor; the ex- skipper of the soccer side an athlete; and a footballer, who was in the Iranian squad for the international competition.

Detention and Flawed Legal Process

The athlete was taken into custody in early 2020. The allegations against him comprised “promoting decay on Earth through arson and destruction of state assets”. His verdict has been reversed twice but on October 4 it was maintained on the third attempt. His trial was criticized as “highly unjust” by human rights activists and organizations.

Appeal to International Body

The appeal to prevent the athlete's death sentence comes after a previous statement to the global human rights chief for human rights, backed by more than one hundred rights specialists and groups, demanding measures to stop the athlete’s capital punishment.

Death Penalty Surge

According to findings, there is an “capital punishment escalation in the country, which has attained alarming levels”. In two thousand twenty-three, the government put to death at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a nearly half rise on 2022. The year before, records showed nine hundred seventy-two deaths, constituting the maximum count since 2015. In excess of 800 people have been put to death so far in 2025.

Activists and dissidents are focus, especially in the aftermath of the 2022 uprising. Analysts say the regime have used the death penalty to stifle protest, generate fear among the public and tighten their control on authority.