🔗 Share this article

More than twenty Olympic champions, trainers and other world-class competitors have endorsed a appeal calling for a end to the capital punishment of a boxing champion and instructor, who is facing execution in the nation.

Growing Global Anger

Amidst increasing worldwide anger over the country's increasing application of capital punishment as a instrument of oppression, the powerfully expressed statement censures the government's verdict to maintain the execution order of the boxing champion.

The boxer, thirty, from the city in the northern province, was detained for taking part in nationwide protests in two thousand nineteen and indicted of aiding an dissident organization. He has endured half a decade in detention, where he has been tortured and held in seclusion.

“Sport is meant to inspire hope, togetherness, and courage,” the endorsers wrote. “The execution of a winner for his beliefs is a direct assault on these values and a warning to any competitor who ventures to express dissent.

History of Putting to Death Sports Figures

The appeal pointed out that the boxer's circumstances was part of a pattern and emphasized the country's record of putting to death athletes for their beliefs, such as a national team leader, leader of the football side, and a women's sports leader, captain of the women's volleyball squad. In the year 2020, Navid Afkari, a young national wrestling champion, was put to death.

Other endorsers to the letter include a sailing champion, who skippered the inaugural female-only team in a international sailing event and was the pioneering lady to receive a prestigious nautical honor; the previous skipper of the soccer side a sports advocate; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the national team for the 1978 World Cup.

Arrest and Unjust Proceedings

The boxer was arrested in early 2020. The accusations against him comprised “causing deterioration on Earth through incendiarism and ruin of government belongings”. His verdict has been overturned on two occasions but on the fourth of October it was confirmed on the latest review. His trial was condemned as “highly unjust” by rights defenders and organizations.

Urging to International Body

The appeal to stop Vafaei Sani’s death sentence follows a earlier statement to the United Nations official for human rights, backed by over a hundred human rights experts and groups, urging action to stop the competitor's capital punishment.

Execution Crisis

As per reports, there is an “capital punishment escalation in Iran, which has achieved shocking dimensions”. In the year 2023, officials put to death at least over 850 people – a 48% increase on 2022. Last year, records showed nearly a thousand capital punishments, representing the highest number since two thousand fifteen. In excess of eight hundred people have been executed so far in the current year.

Activists and protesters are victims, notably in the wake of the 2022's demonstrations. Experts say the Iranian authorities have used the death penalty to stifle dissent, generate anxiety among the population and reinforce their hold on power.