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In excess of two dozen Olympic medal winners, trainers and additional international athletes have signed a letter demanding a halt to the capital punishment of a boxing champion and trainer, who is facing execution in the nation.

Growing Global Anger

Amidst increasing global condemnation over the nation's expanding employment of the death penalty as a tool of suppression, the powerfully expressed letter denounces the authorities's ruling to uphold the execution order of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

The boxer, 30, from the city in the northeastern region, was detained for being involved in countrywide demonstrations in the year 2019 and indicted of aiding an resistance movement. He has spent 60 months in prison, where he has been tortured and kept in isolation.

“Sport is meant to promote optimism, togetherness, and courage,” the endorsers wrote. “The capital punishment of a champion for his opinions is a direct assault on these principles and a warning to any competitor who attempts to speak out.

Record of Killing Sports Figures

The statement said that the athlete's situation was part of a pattern and emphasized the nation's history of putting to death sports champions for their convictions, including Habib Khabiri, skipper of the national football team, and a volleyball captain, skipper of the women's volleyball squad. In two thousand twenty, an athlete, a 27-year-old national wrestling champion, was also executed.

Additional endorsers to the statement include Tracy Edwards, who led the pioneering all-female crew in a global yacht race and was the first woman to earn a prestigious yachting trophy; the previous skipper of the soccer side a sports advocate; and a sports figure, who was in the national team for the 1978 World Cup.

Arrest and Unjust Proceedings

Vafaei Sani was arrested in March 2020. The allegations against him entailed “causing deterioration on Earth through incendiarism and ruin of public property”. His sentence has been annulled twice but on 4 October it was upheld on the third attempt. His legal proceedings was denounced as “deeply biased” by advocates and organizations.

Call to International Body

The urging to halt the athlete's death sentence is subsequent to a 2023 letter to the global human rights chief for freedoms, signed by in excess of a hundred human rights experts and organizations, urging action to stop the sports figure's capital punishment.

Death Penalty Surge

According to data, there is an “death penalty surge in the country, which has reached horrific levels”. In two thousand twenty-three, authorities sentenced at least 853 people – a nearly half surge on the previous year. The year before, records showed 972 executions, constituting the maximum count since two thousand fifteen. In excess of eight hundred people have been put to death so far in 2025.

Dissidents and dissidents are victims, particularly in the aftermath of the the year 2022 uprising. Experts say the regime have used the death penalty to quell opposition, instil anxiety among the public and tighten their control on power.