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Over 20 Olympic medal winners, trainers and additional international athletes have put their names to a letter calling for a stop to the execution of a champion boxer and instructor, who is sentenced to die in the nation.

Escalating International Outrage

During increasing global condemnation over Iran’s escalating use of capital punishment as a tool of oppression, the forcefully phrased statement censures the government's decision to confirm the execution order of the athlete.

The boxer, three decades old, from the city in the northeastern region, was arrested for being involved in national uprisings in the year 2019 and charged of backing an dissident organization. He has passed 60 months in detention, where he has been mistreated and confined in isolation.

“Athletics is designed to inspire faith, solidarity, and fortitude,” the signatories expressed. “The capital punishment of a champion for his political views is a blatant attack on these principles and a admonition to any competitor who dares to voice opinions.

Pattern of Putting to Death Athletes

The appeal said that Vafaei Sani’s situation was not unique and underscored the country's past of executing athletes for their beliefs, such as a national team leader, captain of the soccer squad, and Fourouzan Abdi, captain of the female volleyball side. In 2020, an athlete, a young national wrestling champion, was also executed.

Further signatories to the statement consist of Tracy Edwards, who captained the inaugural women's squad in a global yacht race and was the pioneering lady to be awarded a renowned nautical honor; the ex- captain of the national squad a sports advocate; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the Iranian squad for the global tournament.

Detention and Unjust Proceedings

Vafaei Sani was taken into custody in March 2020. The allegations against him entailed “promoting decay on Earth through incendiarism and ruin of public property”. His sentence has been overturned twice but on 4 October it was confirmed on the third occasion. His court case was criticized as “deeply biased” by rights defenders and bodies.

Call to United Nations

The urging to prevent the boxer's capital punishment comes after a previous appeal to the global human rights chief for human rights, signed by in excess of a hundred human rights experts and groups, demanding measures to stop the sports figure's execution.

Death Penalty Surge

As per findings, there is an “capital punishment escalation in Iran, which has achieved horrific proportions”. In the year 2023, authorities sentenced at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a nearly half increase on 2022. The year before, data showed nine hundred seventy-two executions, marking the highest number since 2015. In excess of hundreds of people have been sentenced so far in 2025.

Dissidents and opponents are focus, particularly in the aftermath of the the year 2022 protests. Experts say the regime have used the capital punishment to stifle dissent, instil apprehension among the public and strengthen their grip on rule.