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Over twenty Olympic medal winners, coaches and additional global sports figures have endorsed a statement urging a stop to the execution of a champion boxer and trainer, who is sentenced to die in the nation.

Increasing International Outrage

Amidst increasing international outrage over the country's escalating use of capital punishment as a instrument of repression, the forcefully phrased letter censures the authorities's decision to maintain the execution order of the athlete.

The athlete, three decades old, from Mashhad in the northeastern region, was taken into custody for participating in countrywide demonstrations in 2019 and accused of supporting an opposition group. He has passed 60 months in incarceration, where he has been mistreated and held in isolation.

“Competition is intended to inspire hope, togetherness, and fortitude,” the supporters expressed. “The death penalty of a champion for his opinions is a direct assault on these ideals and a admonition to every athlete who dares to voice opinions.

Record of Executing Competitors

The letter noted that the athlete's circumstances was not an isolated one and emphasized the nation's history of putting to death competitors for their convictions, including Habib Khabiri, captain of the national football team, and a volleyball captain, skipper of the national women’s volleyball team. In 2020, an athlete, a young Iranian sports titleholder, faced the death penalty.

Further supporters to the statement include a sailing champion, who skippered the first women's squad in a global yacht race and was the first woman to receive a prestigious yachting trophy; the previous skipper of the national squad a sports advocate; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the Iranian squad for the 1978 World Cup.

Detention and Unjust Proceedings

Vafaei Sani was arrested in early 2020. The charges against him entailed “promoting decay on Earth through arson and destruction of public property”. His verdict has been reversed twice but on the fourth of October it was maintained on the third occasion. His court case was denounced as “highly unjust” by rights defenders and bodies.

Appeal to UN

The urging to prevent the athlete's capital punishment comes after a earlier letter to the United Nations official for rights, endorsed by more than 100 human rights experts and organizations, calling for measures to stop the sports figure's execution.

Capital Punishment Escalation

As per findings, there is an “execution crisis in the country, which has achieved horrific proportions”. In 2023, officials executed at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a 48% rise on the previous year. The year before, records showed 972 capital punishments, constituting the peak figure since two thousand fifteen. More than eight hundred people have been executed so far in the current year.

Political prisoners and protesters are victims, notably in the aftermath of the 2022's protests. Analysts say the regime have used the death penalty to suppress dissent, generate apprehension among the population and tighten their grip on power.