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Over 20 Olympic medal winners, mentors and additional global sports figures have endorsed a letter urging a halt to the death penalty of a boxing champion and instructor, who is sentenced to die in the nation.

Increasing International Outrage

During increasing worldwide anger over the country's expanding employment of capital punishment as a instrument of oppression, the forcefully phrased letter denounces the Iranian regime's decision to confirm the death sentence of the athlete.

Vafaei Sani, 30, from Mashhad in the northeastern region, was taken into custody for participating in countrywide demonstrations in the year 2019 and indicted of backing an opposition group. He has passed half a decade in detention, where he has been abused and held in isolation.

“Competition is intended to encourage optimism, togetherness, and fortitude,” the supporters stated. “The death penalty of a titleholder for his political views is a clear violation on these principles and a warning to all sportspeople who attempts to speak out.

Record of Putting to Death Competitors

The statement pointed out that the athlete's case was part of a pattern and emphasized the nation's record of sentencing to death sports champions for their convictions, for example Habib Khabiri, leader of the football side, and a women's sports leader, skipper of the women's volleyball squad. In the year 2020, an athlete, a 27-year-old Iranian competitor, faced the death penalty.

Further supporters to the appeal comprise a sailing champion, who captained the pioneering all-female crew in a global yacht race and was the initial female to earn a esteemed yachting trophy; the previous skipper of the Australian football team an athlete; and a footballer, who was in the country's selection for the global tournament.

Arrest and Unfair Trial

The athlete was taken into custody in early 2020. The charges against him entailed “promoting decay on Earth through fire-setting and damage of public property”. His verdict has been reversed on two occasions but on the fourth of October it was maintained on the third occasion. His legal proceedings was denounced as “deeply biased” by rights defenders and bodies.

Call to International Body

The call to prevent the boxer's death sentence is subsequent to a earlier letter to the UN high commissioner for human rights, endorsed by over a hundred human rights experts and entities, urging measures to stop the sports figure's death.

Death Penalty Surge

Based on data, there is an “capital punishment escalation in Iran, which has attained alarming proportions”. In 2023, authorities put to death at least 853 people – a forty-eight percent rise on 2022. Last year, statistics showed nine hundred seventy-two executions, representing the maximum count since the year 2015. Over 800 people have been executed so far in 2025.

Dissidents and protesters are targets, especially in the wake of the 2022's uprising. Specialists say the Iranian authorities have utilized the capital punishment to suppress protest, instil anxiety among the population and reinforce their grip on authority.