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In excess of 20 Olympic champions, mentors and additional global sports figures have signed a statement demanding a stop to the capital punishment of a champion boxer and coach, who is facing execution in the country.

Growing International Outrage

Amid growing worldwide anger over Iran’s increasing application of capital punishment as a tool of oppression, the strongly worded letter condemns the government's verdict to uphold the death sentence of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

The boxer, thirty, from the city in the northern province, was arrested for being involved in national uprisings in 2019 and charged of backing an resistance movement. He has spent half a decade in prison, where he has been mistreated and kept in isolation.

“Athletics is meant to encourage hope, solidarity, and bravery,” the endorsers expressed. “The capital punishment of a champion for his opinions is a clear violation on these values and a admonition to every athlete who dares to speak out.

Record of Putting to Death Athletes

The letter said that the boxer's situation was not an isolated one and underscored the nation's history of putting to death athletes for their convictions, such as Habib Khabiri, captain of the football side, and a volleyball captain, leader of the national women’s volleyball team. In the year 2020, a wrestling champion, a 27-year-old national sports titleholder, faced the death penalty.

Additional endorsers to the letter include a yachting pioneer, who captained the first female-only team in a round-the-world competition and was the pioneering lady to be awarded a prestigious nautical honor; the ex- skipper of the Australian football team a sports advocate; and a sports figure, who was in the national team for the international competition.

Detention and Flawed Legal Process

Vafaei Sani was detained in the spring of 2020. The accusations against him included “promoting decay on Earth through fire-setting and damage of government belongings”. His verdict has been overturned multiple times but on October 4 it was maintained on the third attempt. His legal proceedings was denounced as “highly unjust” by advocates and organizations.

Appeal to United Nations

The urging to stop the athlete's death sentence comes after a 2023 appeal to the global human rights chief for human rights, signed by more than 100 advocates and groups, calling for action to avert the athlete’s death.

Death Penalty Surge

According to reports, there is an “death penalty surge in the country, which has reached shocking proportions”. In the year 2023, officials sentenced at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a nearly half surge on 2022. Last year, statistics showed nearly a thousand capital punishments, constituting the maximum count since 2015. In excess of eight hundred people have been executed so far in the current year.

Dissidents and opponents are focus, particularly in the aftermath of the 2022's uprising. Analysts say the government have utilized the death penalty to quell dissent, create anxiety among the citizenry and strengthen their grip on authority.