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Over twenty Olympic champions, mentors and other international athletes have put their names to a appeal urging a stop to the death penalty of a champion boxer and trainer, who is on death row in Iran.

Growing International Outrage

Amid rising global condemnation over the country's expanding employment of the death penalty as a tool of suppression, the forcefully phrased appeal denounces the authorities's verdict to uphold the death sentence of the athlete.

Vafaei Sani, 30, from the city in the northern province, was taken into custody for participating in countrywide demonstrations in 2019 and accused of aiding an opposition group. He has endured 60 months in detention, where he has been mistreated and held in isolation.

“Competition is meant to encourage hope, togetherness, and courage,” the endorsers stated. “The capital punishment of a champion for his beliefs is a blatant attack on these principles and a warning to every athlete who attempts to voice opinions.

Record of Killing Competitors

The statement said that the boxer's case was not an isolated one and underscored the nation's past of putting to death sports champions for their beliefs, including Habib Khabiri, captain of the soccer squad, and a volleyball captain, leader of the national women’s volleyball team. In the year 2020, Navid Afkari, a young national sports titleholder, faced the death penalty.

Further endorsers to the statement comprise a sailing champion, who skippered the inaugural women's squad in a international sailing event and was the pioneering lady to be awarded a prestigious yachting trophy; the former leader of the national squad a sports advocate; and a footballer, who was in the Iranian squad for the international competition.

Apprehension and Unjust Proceedings

The athlete was detained in March 2020. The charges against him comprised “spreading corruption on Earth through arson and destruction of public property”. His verdict has been overturned on two occasions but on October 4 it was maintained on the latest review. His trial was criticized as “deeply biased” by advocates and bodies.

Appeal to International Body

The urging to prevent the boxer's execution comes after a previous statement to the global human rights chief for rights, backed by more than 100 advocates and groups, demanding intervention to avert the athlete’s death.

Death Penalty Surge

According to data, there is an “death penalty surge in the nation, which has achieved shocking dimensions”. In the year 2023, officials executed at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a nearly half surge on 2022. Last year, data showed nearly a thousand capital punishments, marking the peak figure since 2015. More than hundreds of people have been executed so far in the current year.

Political prisoners and dissidents are victims, especially in the aftermath of the 2022's demonstrations. Specialists say the government have employed the capital punishment to stifle opposition, generate fear among the citizenry and strengthen their control on power.