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In excess of 20 Olympic medal winners, coaches and other international athletes have signed a statement calling for a halt to the capital punishment of a boxing champion and coach, who is facing execution in the country.

Increasing International Outrage

During growing global condemnation over the country's increasing application of executions as a instrument of oppression, the forcefully phrased statement censures the government's verdict to uphold the execution order of the athlete.

The boxer, 30, from the city in the northern province, was arrested for taking part in countrywide demonstrations in 2019 and accused of backing an opposition group. He has passed 60 months in prison, where he has been tortured and kept in isolation.

“Athletics is meant to promote faith, solidarity, and courage,” the supporters expressed. “The death penalty of a titleholder for his beliefs is a direct assault on these values and a admonition to all sportspeople who dares to voice opinions.

Pattern of Putting to Death Competitors

The letter noted that the athlete's case was not an isolated one and underscored the country's past of putting to death sports champions for their convictions, including a national team leader, captain of the football side, and Fourouzan Abdi, skipper of the women's volleyball squad. In 2020, a wrestling champion, a 27-year national sports titleholder, was put to death.

Other endorsers to the statement consist of Tracy Edwards, who led the inaugural all-female crew in a global yacht race and was the first woman to earn a prestigious nautical honor; the former captain of the national squad a sports advocate; and a footballer, who was in the national team for the 1978 World Cup.

Apprehension and Flawed Legal Process

The boxer was taken into custody in March 2020. The accusations against him entailed “causing deterioration on Earth through incendiarism and ruin of state assets”. His sentence has been overturned twice but on October 4 it was upheld on the third attempt. His legal proceedings was condemned as “highly unjust” by human rights activists and bodies.

Call to United Nations

The call to prevent the athlete's death sentence comes after a previous appeal to the UN high commissioner for freedoms, endorsed by more than a hundred rights specialists and organizations, demanding measures to avert the competitor's capital punishment.

Capital Punishment Escalation

As per data, there is an “execution crisis in Iran, which has achieved shocking levels”. In 2023, authorities put to death at least eight hundred fifty-three people – a forty-eight percent surge on 2022. In the prior period, statistics showed nine hundred seventy-two capital punishments, constituting the maximum count since two thousand fifteen. More than hundreds of people have been executed so far in 2025.

Political prisoners and opponents are focus, notably in the aftermath of the 2022's protests. Specialists say the Iranian authorities have utilized the executions to quell opposition, generate fear among the citizenry and reinforce their control on rule.