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Over twenty Olympic champions, mentors and further world-class competitors have put their names to a appeal calling for a end to the death penalty of a champion boxer and instructor, who is facing execution in the nation.

Escalating Global Anger

During increasing international outrage over the nation's increasing application of capital punishment as a means of oppression, the forcefully phrased appeal denounces the Iranian regime's decision to uphold the capital punishment of the boxing champion.

The boxer, thirty, from the city in north-east Iran, was detained for taking part in national uprisings in the year 2019 and charged of supporting an resistance movement. He has spent half a decade in detention, where he has been tortured and confined in seclusion.

“Competition is intended to inspire hope, unity, and courage,” the supporters stated. “The capital punishment of a titleholder for his political views is a clear violation on these principles and a warning to any competitor who attempts to express dissent.

History of Putting to Death Competitors

The appeal said that the athlete's situation was not an isolated one and emphasized the nation's record of executing athletes for their views, including a football captain, captain of the football side, and Fourouzan Abdi, skipper of the female volleyball side. In the year 2020, an athlete, a 27-year national wrestling champion, was put to death.

Additional signatories to the letter comprise a yachting pioneer, who led the inaugural all-female crew in a round-the-world competition and was the first woman to earn a prestigious yachting trophy; the former captain of the Australian football team an athlete; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the national team for the global tournament.

Apprehension and Unjust Proceedings

Vafaei Sani was detained in early 2020. The accusations against him comprised “causing deterioration on Earth through fire-setting and damage of state assets”. His ruling has been overturned multiple times but on 4 October it was maintained on the third attempt. His trial was denounced as “deeply biased” by advocates and bodies.

Appeal to United Nations

The appeal to stop the boxer's death sentence comes after a previous appeal to the UN high commissioner for human rights, backed by in excess of a hundred rights specialists and entities, demanding intervention to avert the athlete’s execution.

Execution Crisis

As per data, there is an “death penalty surge in Iran, which has reached alarming levels”. In two thousand twenty-three, officials sentenced at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a forty-eight percent increase on the previous year. The year before, statistics showed nearly a thousand capital punishments, marking the peak figure since the year 2015. More than 800 people have been sentenced so far in 2025.

Political prisoners and dissidents are focus, especially in the aftermath of the 2022's demonstrations. Experts say the regime have employed the capital punishment to suppress opposition, create anxiety among the citizenry and strengthen their grip on rule.