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In excess of two dozen Olympic medal winners, mentors and additional world-class competitors have put their names to a letter demanding a halt to the death penalty of a boxing champion and trainer, who is sentenced to die in Iran.

Escalating Global Anger

Amidst increasing international outrage over Iran’s expanding employment of executions as a means of suppression, the forcefully phrased statement denounces the government's decision to confirm the death sentence of the athlete.

Vafaei Sani, three decades old, from the city in the northern province, was taken into custody for being involved in nationwide protests in 2019 and indicted of supporting an resistance movement. He has spent 60 months in detention, where he has been mistreated and kept in solitary confinement.

“Competition is meant to encourage faith, unity, and bravery,” the signatories stated. “The capital punishment of a champion for his beliefs is a blatant attack on these values and a admonition to any competitor who ventures to speak out.

Record of Executing Competitors

The letter pointed out that the athlete's circumstances was part of a pattern and emphasized the nation's record of putting to death sports champions for their convictions, including Habib Khabiri, leader of the national football team, and Fourouzan Abdi, leader of the national women’s volleyball team. In two thousand twenty, an athlete, a 27-year Iranian wrestling champion, was put to death.

Other supporters to the appeal comprise Tracy Edwards, who captained the pioneering all-female crew in a international sailing event and was the pioneering lady to be awarded a renowned nautical honor; the previous skipper of the soccer side a sports advocate; and a footballer, who was in the national team for the global tournament.

Arrest and Unfair Trial

The athlete was taken into custody in early 2020. The accusations against him entailed “promoting decay on Earth through fire-setting and damage of state assets”. His sentence has been overturned multiple times but on the fourth of October it was confirmed on the latest review. His trial was denounced as “deeply biased” by human rights activists and groups.

Appeal to International Body

The appeal to halt the boxer's death sentence comes after a earlier statement to the United Nations official for freedoms, endorsed by more than a hundred rights specialists and groups, calling for action to prevent the sports figure's execution.

Death Penalty Surge

According to findings, there is an “death penalty surge in Iran, which has attained shocking levels”. In two thousand twenty-three, officials sentenced at least 853 people – a 48% surge on the previous year. Last year, statistics showed nine hundred seventy-two capital punishments, representing the maximum count since two thousand fifteen. More than hundreds of people have been sentenced 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 suppress dissent, generate anxiety among the population and tighten their grip on rule.