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More than twenty Olympic medal winners, mentors and additional world-class competitors have endorsed a appeal urging a stop to the capital punishment of a champion boxer and trainer, who is facing execution in the country.

Increasing Worldwide Condemnation

Amid increasing international outrage over the nation's escalating use of executions as a means of oppression, the strongly worded statement denounces the Iranian regime's decision to uphold the execution order of the boxing champion.

The athlete, thirty, from the city in the northeastern region, was taken into custody for participating in national uprisings in 2019 and accused of supporting an resistance movement. He has spent five years in detention, where he has been mistreated and held in solitary confinement.

“Sport is designed to inspire optimism, togetherness, and courage,” the signatories expressed. “The execution of a champion for his opinions is a clear violation on these principles and a admonition to any competitor who attempts to voice opinions.

Record of Killing Sports Figures

The statement said that the boxer's case was not unique and emphasized Iran’s past of putting to death athletes for their views, for example a national team leader, captain of the football side, and Fourouzan Abdi, leader of the women's volleyball squad. In two thousand twenty, Navid Afkari, a young national competitor, was put to death.

Other signatories to the appeal include Tracy Edwards, who captained the first female-only team in a international sailing event and was the first woman to receive a renowned sailing award; the former captain of the national squad a sports advocate; and a footballer, who was in the Iranian squad for the 1978 World Cup.

Detention and Flawed Legal Process

The athlete was arrested in early 2020. The allegations against him included “causing deterioration on Earth through fire-setting and destruction of public property”. His ruling has been reversed multiple times but on the fourth of October it was maintained on the latest review. His legal proceedings was criticized as “grossly unfair” by advocates and organizations.

Call to United Nations

The urging to halt Vafaei Sani’s capital punishment follows a previous statement to the United Nations official for freedoms, backed by in excess of a hundred rights specialists and entities, calling for intervention to prevent the sports figure's execution.

Capital Punishment Escalation

Based on data, there is an “capital punishment escalation in Iran, which has achieved alarming levels”. In the year 2023, authorities executed at least 853 people – a forty-eight percent surge on 2022. The year before, statistics showed nearly a thousand deaths, representing the maximum count since the year 2015. In excess of eight hundred people have been executed so far in the current year.

Activists and protesters are targets, particularly in the aftermath of the 2022 protests. Analysts say the government have employed the death penalty to suppress dissent, create fear among the citizenry and strengthen their grip on power.