🔗 Share this article Olympians Call on Iranian Authorities to Stop Execution of Boxing Champion More than twenty Olympic medallists, mentors and other international athletes have signed a statement demanding a stop to the death penalty of a boxing champion and instructor, who is on death row in Iran. Growing Global Anger During increasing global condemnation over the country's escalating use of capital punishment as a means of oppression, the strongly worded statement denounces the Iranian regime's ruling to maintain the execution order of the athlete. The athlete, three decades old, from the city in the northeastern region, was taken into custody for taking part in national uprisings in two thousand nineteen and accused of supporting an dissident organization. He has endured five years in detention, where he has been abused and held in seclusion. “Competition is intended to inspire faith, unity, and bravery,” the endorsers wrote. “The death penalty of a champion for his beliefs is a blatant attack on these principles and a admonition to all sportspeople who ventures to express dissent. Record of Putting to Death Sports Figures The statement said that Vafaei Sani’s case was part of a pattern and emphasized the nation's history of executing competitors for their views, such as a football captain, skipper of the soccer squad, and a women's sports leader, leader of the national women’s volleyball team. In the year 2020, an athlete, a 27-year national competitor, was also executed. Additional endorsers to the letter comprise a yachting pioneer, who skippered the inaugural all-female crew in a round-the-world competition and was the initial female to be awarded a prestigious nautical honor; the previous skipper of the national squad an athlete; and a sports figure, who was in the national team for the 1978 World Cup. Apprehension and Flawed Legal Process The athlete was arrested in March 2020. The charges against him comprised “spreading corruption on Earth through arson and damage of public property”. His sentence has been overturned twice but on October 4 it was maintained on the latest review. His court case was condemned as “highly unjust” by rights defenders and groups. Urging to UN The call to halt the athlete's capital punishment follows a earlier statement to the United Nations official for human rights, backed by more than one hundred human rights experts and organizations, urging action to avert the athlete’s capital punishment. Death Penalty Surge Based on findings, there is an “capital punishment escalation in Iran, which has achieved alarming levels”. In the year 2023, officials put to death at least over 850 people – a 48% rise on 2022. In the prior period, statistics showed nine hundred seventy-two deaths, constituting the highest number since two thousand fifteen. Over eight hundred people have been executed so far in the current year. Political prisoners and dissidents are focus, notably in the aftermath of the 2022's protests. Experts say the government have used the death penalty to quell opposition, generate apprehension among the population and tighten their grip on rule.