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More than two dozen Olympic medallists, mentors and other international athletes have put their names to a appeal calling for a halt to the execution of a boxing champion and trainer, who is sentenced to die in Iran.

Increasing International Outrage

During rising global condemnation over the country's increasing application of executions as a means of repression, the powerfully expressed statement condemns the government's verdict to confirm the death sentence of the athlete.

The athlete, thirty, from Mashhad in the northern province, was arrested for participating in countrywide demonstrations in the year 2019 and accused of supporting an opposition group. He has passed five years in prison, where he has been abused and held in solitary confinement.

“Competition is intended to promote hope, unity, and bravery,” the signatories wrote. “The execution of a champion for his political views is a clear violation on these ideals and a caution to all sportspeople who dares to speak out.

Pattern of Executing Sports Figures

The letter said that Vafaei Sani’s situation was not unique and underscored the nation's past of sentencing to death competitors for their convictions, including a football captain, leader of the football side, and a volleyball captain, captain of the national women’s volleyball team. In the year 2020, a wrestling champion, a 27-year-old national competitor, was also executed.

Additional signatories to the appeal include a yachting pioneer, who skippered the inaugural women's squad in a round-the-world competition and was the initial female to receive a esteemed nautical honor; the previous skipper of the national squad a sports advocate; and a sports figure, who was in the Iranian squad for the international competition.

Arrest and Unfair Trial

The boxer was detained in early 2020. The allegations against him included “causing deterioration on Earth through incendiarism and destruction of state assets”. His sentence has been reversed twice but on October 4 it was confirmed on the third occasion. His court case was condemned as “deeply biased” by rights defenders and groups.

Urging to International Body

The appeal to halt the athlete's execution is subsequent to a earlier statement to the global human rights chief for freedoms, endorsed by over a hundred human rights experts and organizations, demanding action to avert the athlete’s death.

Execution Crisis

According to reports, there is an “capital punishment escalation in the country, which has reached shocking proportions”. In two thousand twenty-three, authorities sentenced at least 853 people – a nearly half surge on the previous year. In the prior period, statistics showed 972 capital punishments, representing the highest number since 2015. More than 800 people have been executed so far in the current year.

Dissidents and protesters are focus, particularly in the aftermath of the 2022 demonstrations. Analysts say the regime have utilized the death penalty to quell protest, create apprehension among the citizenry and tighten their grip on rule.