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Over two dozen Olympic champions, mentors and additional world-class competitors have endorsed a appeal calling for a halt to the death penalty of a champion boxer and trainer, who is sentenced to die in the country.

Escalating Global Anger

Amidst growing global condemnation over the country's expanding employment of the death penalty as a instrument of suppression, the strongly worded letter denounces the authorities's verdict to confirm the capital punishment of the boxing champion.

The boxer, thirty, from the city in the northern province, was detained for participating in nationwide protests in 2019 and indicted of aiding an opposition group. He has endured 60 months in detention, where he has been mistreated and kept in solitary confinement.

“Athletics is designed to encourage faith, unity, and fortitude,” the signatories stated. “The execution of a champion for his political views is a direct assault on these values and a caution to every athlete who dares to voice opinions.

Record of Executing Competitors

The letter noted that the boxer's case was part of a pattern and emphasized Iran’s history of sentencing to death sports champions for their beliefs, for example Habib Khabiri, captain of the football side, and Fourouzan Abdi, skipper of the national women’s volleyball team. In two thousand twenty, Navid Afkari, a young Iranian wrestling champion, was also executed.

Additional supporters to the letter comprise Tracy Edwards, who led the inaugural women's squad in a global yacht race and was the pioneering lady to earn a esteemed nautical honor; the former leader of the Australian football team an athlete; and a footballer, who was in the country's selection for the 1978 World Cup.

Detention and Unfair Trial

The athlete was arrested in the spring of 2020. The allegations against him entailed “causing deterioration on Earth through arson and ruin of government belongings”. His verdict has been annulled multiple times but on 4 October it was maintained on the third occasion. His legal proceedings was condemned as “grossly unfair” by advocates and bodies.

Appeal to International Body

The urging to stop the athlete's death sentence comes after a previous statement to the global human rights chief for freedoms, backed by in excess of one hundred rights specialists and groups, demanding action to avert the sports figure's death.

Death Penalty Surge

Based on findings, there is an “capital punishment escalation in the country, which has achieved horrific proportions”. In 2023, authorities executed at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a 48% surge on 2022. The year before, records showed nearly a thousand capital punishments, representing the peak figure since the year 2015. More than hundreds of people have been executed so far in 2025.

Political prisoners and opponents are victims, particularly in the aftermath of the 2022 protests. Analysts say the regime have used the death penalty to quell protest, create fear among the population and strengthen their control on rule.