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More than 20 Olympic medal winners, trainers and other international athletes have signed a appeal calling for a stop to the death penalty of a champion boxer and instructor, who is on death row in Iran.

Growing International Outrage

Amid rising global condemnation over Iran’s escalating use of the death penalty as a means of suppression, the powerfully expressed letter denounces the authorities's ruling to maintain the execution order of the athlete.

The athlete, thirty, from the city in the northern province, was taken into custody for being involved in national uprisings in 2019 and indicted of supporting an resistance movement. He has passed 60 months in detention, where he has been mistreated and held in seclusion.

“Sport is designed to inspire hope, unity, and bravery,” the endorsers wrote. “The execution of a titleholder for his political views is a direct assault on these values and a caution to any competitor who ventures to express dissent.

Pattern of Executing Competitors

The appeal pointed out that Vafaei Sani’s circumstances was part of a pattern and underscored the nation's record of putting to death sports champions for their convictions, including a national team leader, skipper of the football side, and a volleyball captain, skipper of the female volleyball side. In 2020, Navid Afkari, a young Iranian sports titleholder, faced the death penalty.

Further endorsers to the letter include a yachting pioneer, who led the first all-female crew in a round-the-world competition and was the pioneering lady to be awarded a prestigious sailing award; the previous captain of the Australian football team an athlete; and a sports figure, who was in the Iranian squad for the global tournament.

Arrest and Flawed Legal Process

Vafaei Sani was taken into custody in early 2020. The accusations against him entailed “causing deterioration on Earth through arson and destruction of public property”. His ruling has been annulled multiple times but on the fourth of October it was upheld on the third attempt. His trial was condemned as “highly unjust” by advocates and bodies.

Urging to UN

The appeal to prevent the boxer's death sentence comes after a previous letter to the global human rights chief for human rights, backed by over one hundred rights specialists and organizations, urging measures to stop the athlete’s execution.

Execution Crisis

Based on reports, there is an “execution crisis in the nation, which has achieved alarming proportions”. In two thousand twenty-three, officials put to death at least over 850 people – a 48% increase on 2022. In the prior period, records showed nearly a thousand capital punishments, representing the maximum count since 2015. Over eight hundred people have been executed so far in the current year.

Political prisoners and opponents are focus, notably in the wake of the the year 2022 protests. Specialists say the regime have employed the capital punishment to stifle dissent, instil fear among the public and tighten their grip on authority.