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More than 20 Olympic medallists, mentors and further global sports figures have endorsed a statement calling for a halt to the capital punishment of a boxing champion and coach, who is facing execution in the country.

Escalating Worldwide Condemnation

Amid rising international outrage over the nation's increasing application of the death penalty as a means of suppression, the forcefully phrased letter condemns the Iranian regime's decision to uphold the capital punishment of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

The athlete, three decades old, from Mashhad in north-east Iran, was detained for being involved in national uprisings in the year 2019 and charged of backing an dissident organization. He has passed five years in prison, where he has been tortured and kept in isolation.

“Sport is intended to inspire optimism, solidarity, and bravery,” the endorsers stated. “The death penalty of a champion for his opinions is a blatant attack on these values and a admonition to every athlete who dares to speak out.

Pattern of Killing Sports Figures

The appeal noted that the athlete's case was not unique and emphasized Iran’s past of putting to death competitors for their convictions, for example a national team leader, leader of the soccer squad, and a volleyball captain, captain of the women's volleyball squad. In the year 2020, an athlete, a 27-year national sports titleholder, faced the death penalty.

Further supporters to the appeal include a sailing champion, who skippered the inaugural women's squad in a international sailing event and was the pioneering lady to earn a prestigious nautical honor; the former skipper of the national squad Craig Foster; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the Iranian squad for the international competition.

Detention and Unfair Trial

The athlete was arrested in early 2020. The accusations against him entailed “causing deterioration on Earth through incendiarism and ruin of government belongings”. His sentence has been reversed on two occasions but on October 4 it was upheld on the third attempt. His trial was condemned as “deeply biased” by rights defenders and organizations.

Urging to United Nations

The urging to stop the boxer's capital punishment follows a previous appeal to the UN high commissioner for freedoms, backed by over 100 rights specialists and organizations, urging measures to avert the athlete’s execution.

Execution Crisis

According to reports, there is an “death penalty surge in the nation, which has attained shocking proportions”. In the year 2023, authorities sentenced at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a nearly half increase on the previous year. Last year, data showed nine hundred seventy-two capital punishments, marking the highest number since the year 2015. Over hundreds of people have been put to death so far in the current year.

Political prisoners and protesters are targets, especially in the wake of the 2022 protests. Experts say the government have employed the capital punishment to quell protest, generate anxiety among the population and reinforce their hold on rule.