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Over twenty Olympic medal winners, mentors and additional world-class competitors have put their names to a appeal urging a stop to the death penalty of a boxing champion and trainer, who is on death row in the country.

Increasing Global Anger

During rising international outrage over the country's increasing application of the death penalty as a instrument of suppression, the forcefully phrased letter denounces the Iranian regime's decision to maintain the death sentence of the boxing champion.

The boxer, three decades old, from the city in north-east Iran, was arrested for taking part in national uprisings in the year 2019 and charged of supporting an dissident organization. He has spent 60 months in incarceration, where he has been tortured and confined in solitary confinement.

“Competition is designed to encourage hope, unity, and courage,” the endorsers stated. “The execution of a champion for his beliefs is a direct assault on these values and a warning to all sportspeople who attempts to speak out.

Record of Putting to Death Sports Figures

The statement said that the athlete's case was not unique and emphasized the nation's history of sentencing to death athletes for their convictions, such as Habib Khabiri, skipper of the football side, and Fourouzan Abdi, captain of the female volleyball side. In two thousand twenty, a wrestling champion, a young national wrestling champion, faced the death penalty.

Other supporters to the appeal comprise a yachting pioneer, who led the first female-only team in a international sailing event and was the pioneering lady to receive a renowned yachting trophy; the ex- leader of the Australian football team a sports advocate; and Bahram Mavaddat, who was in the national team for the international competition.

Arrest and Flawed Legal Process

The athlete was taken into custody in March 2020. The allegations against him entailed “promoting decay on Earth through arson and damage of government belongings”. His verdict has been overturned twice but on 4 October it was confirmed on the third attempt. His court case was criticized as “highly unjust” by human rights activists and groups.

Call to United Nations

The urging to stop the athlete's execution is subsequent to a previous statement to the United Nations official for rights, endorsed by in excess of 100 human rights experts and organizations, urging intervention to prevent the competitor's death.

Death Penalty Surge

As per data, there is an “execution crisis in Iran, which has achieved shocking levels”. In two thousand twenty-three, the government executed at least over 850 people – a nearly half increase on the previous year. Last year, statistics showed nine hundred seventy-two capital punishments, constituting the maximum count since 2015. Over 800 people have been executed so far in 2025.

Political prisoners and opponents are focus, notably in the aftermath of the the year 2022 uprising. Experts say the regime have employed the executions to quell protest, instil anxiety among the citizenry and strengthen their hold on rule.