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In excess of 20 Olympic medallists, mentors and further international athletes have signed a statement urging a stop to the execution of a champion boxer and instructor, who is facing execution in the country.

Growing International Outrage

Amid rising international outrage over the country's increasing application of the death penalty as a tool of suppression, the forcefully phrased letter denounces the authorities's decision to confirm the capital punishment of the boxing champion.

Vafaei Sani, thirty, from the city in the northeastern region, was taken into custody for being involved in countrywide demonstrations in two thousand nineteen and accused of aiding an opposition group. He has endured 60 months in incarceration, where he has been tortured and kept in seclusion.

“Competition is meant to promote hope, solidarity, and fortitude,” the supporters stated. “The capital punishment of a champion for his beliefs is a blatant attack on these ideals and a admonition to any competitor who attempts to voice opinions.

Record of Putting to Death Sports Figures

The statement said that the athlete's situation was part of a pattern and underscored the country's history of sentencing to death athletes for their convictions, for example a national team leader, captain of the football side, and Fourouzan Abdi, skipper of the national women’s volleyball team. In two thousand twenty, a wrestling champion, a 27-year national competitor, faced the death penalty.

Further signatories to the letter consist of Tracy Edwards, who skippered the first all-female crew in a round-the-world competition and was the first woman to be awarded a renowned nautical honor; the ex- leader of the national squad an athlete; and a sports figure, who was in the country's selection for the international competition.

Detention and Unfair Trial

Vafaei Sani was arrested in early 2020. The allegations against him included “causing deterioration on Earth through incendiarism and damage of public property”. His ruling has been annulled multiple times but on October 4 it was maintained on the third attempt. His trial was condemned as “grossly unfair” by human rights activists and bodies.

Call to International Body

The appeal to halt the athlete's death sentence follows a 2023 letter to the United Nations official for freedoms, endorsed by over one hundred advocates and organizations, urging intervention to avert the sports figure's execution.

Execution Crisis

According to data, there is an “death penalty surge in the nation, which has reached alarming levels”. In 2023, authorities sentenced at least over 850 people – a forty-eight percent increase on 2022. Last year, data showed nearly a thousand executions, marking the peak figure since two thousand fifteen. More than 800 people have been executed so far in 2025.

Dissidents and protesters are victims, notably in the wake of the 2022's protests. Specialists say the regime have used the executions to quell protest, generate fear among the public and reinforce their hold on rule.