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More than 20 Olympic champions, mentors and additional international athletes have put their names to a letter urging a stop to the capital punishment of a boxing titleholder and trainer, who is facing execution in Iran.

Escalating Global Anger

During growing international outrage over Iran’s expanding employment of the death penalty as a means of oppression, the powerfully expressed letter denounces the government's ruling to confirm the capital punishment of Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani.

The athlete, three decades old, from the city in the northeastern region, was taken into custody for being involved in national uprisings in 2019 and charged of supporting an resistance movement. He has endured five years in detention, where he has been tortured and confined in seclusion.

“Competition is meant to promote faith, togetherness, and courage,” the signatories stated. “The execution of a champion for his beliefs is a blatant attack on these values and a admonition to every athlete who ventures to express dissent.

Record of Executing Competitors

The letter said that the athlete's case was not unique and emphasized the nation's record of executing athletes for their convictions, such as a national team leader, skipper of the national football team, and a women's sports leader, skipper of the female volleyball side. In 2020, an athlete, a young Iranian competitor, was put to death.

Other endorsers to the statement comprise a sailing champion, who captained the first female-only team in a international sailing event and was the initial female to earn a esteemed nautical honor; the former skipper of the Australian football team Craig Foster; and a sports figure, who was in the Iranian squad for the international competition.

Apprehension and Unjust Proceedings

The boxer was arrested in the spring of 2020. The allegations against him entailed “causing deterioration on Earth through arson and damage of government belongings”. His ruling has been annulled multiple times but on October 4 it was confirmed on the third attempt. His legal proceedings was condemned as “highly unjust” by rights defenders and groups.

Appeal to United Nations

The call to stop Vafaei Sani’s capital punishment follows a previous appeal to the UN high commissioner for freedoms, endorsed by in excess of 100 advocates and organizations, calling for measures to stop the competitor's execution.

Execution Crisis

Based on findings, there is an “execution crisis in the country, which has achieved alarming proportions”. In two thousand twenty-three, authorities sentenced at least over 850 people – a forty-eight percent increase on the previous year. Last year, data showed 972 capital punishments, marking the highest number since 2015. In excess of hundreds of people have been put to death so far in the current year.

Dissidents and protesters are victims, especially in the wake of the the year 2022 uprising. Experts say the regime have used the capital punishment to suppress opposition, create fear among the public and reinforce their control on rule.