Saturday , 9 November 2024

Iranian Boxer Sentenced to Death for Third Time

Iranwire – Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, a political prisoner and former boxing champion held in Mashhad’s Vakilabad prison, has been sentenced to death for the third time, his lawyer, Babak Paknia, announced.

Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, a political prisoner and former boxing champion held in Mashhad's Vakilabad prison, has been sentenced to death for the third time, his lawyer, Babak Paknia, announced

“Despite the Supreme Court’s overturning of the previous verdict, the majority opinion of the investigative judges (consultants to the Branch 3 of the Mashhad Revolutionary Court), in opposition to the Supreme Court judges, has again issued a death sentence for ‘corruption on Earth,'” Paknia wrote on X. He added, “This ruling can be appealed.”

“Corruption on Earth” is the most serious charge under Iran’s Islamic penal code and is punishable by death. Since the Islamic Republic’s founding, dozens of athletes have been executed or killed in the streets of Iran. 

The Iran Human Rights Monitor website reported that two judges of Branch 3 of the Mashhad Revolutionary Court, Hossein Yazdankhah and Saadi Makan, were responsible for issuing the two previous death sentences for Vafaei.

Hossein Yazdankhah is known for handing down harsh sentences, including long-term imprisonment for the siblings of Fatemeh Sepehari, a political prisoner.

Who is Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani?

The 28-year-old boxer was arrested in March 2020 for participating in a nationwide anti-establishment unrest in 2019. The unrest was sparked by a sudden gasoline price increase and demonstrations following the January 2020 downing of a Ukrainian airliner by two IRGC missiles. He was sentenced to death in January 2022.

Vafaei Sani was accused of “incitement and deliberate destruction of government buildings” and “connections with the People’s Mojahedin Organization,” an opposition group. He denied these accusations.

Vafaei’s Boxing Career

Mohammad Javad Vafaei rose to prominence in Mashhad, Khorasan province, winning provincial titles at both the elementary and adult levels.

In an August 2023 interview with IranWire, former National Boxing Federation president Hossein Souri confirmed that Vafaei Sani was a professional boxer. “He was a promising young boxer, although he was not invited to the national team camps before his arrest,” Souri said.

Financial constraints often faced by Iranian athletes led Vafaei to transition to coaching at a young age. 

By 21, Vafaei Sani was actively coaching boxing at various clubs and dedicating time to teaching boxing and self-defense to working children in Mashhad.

Souri, who sought asylum in Spain, noted that many young athletes like Vafaei were forced to take on coaching roles to make a living.

Iran’s Lethal Targeting of Athletes

The Islamic Republic of Iran has a notorious reputation for executing or killing athletes.

Vafaei’s case echoes that of Navid Afkari, a wrestler from Shiraz who was arrested after participating in the November 2019 protests and executed on September 12, 2020, for his alleged involvement in the murder of a security officer during the 2018 protests. Both were targeted by security forces who labeled their arrests as “intelligence achievements.” Afkari’s execution sparked international outrage.

Other prominent cases include Mohammed Mahdi Karami, a decorated karate champion who was executed on January 7, 2023, over the killing of Ruhollah Ajamian, a member of the paramilitary Basij force, during nationwide protests in 2022. 

Karmi repeatedly denied the charges and claimed to have been coerced into a false confession. Despite his pleas, he was sentenced to death after Ajamian’s parents demanded capital punishment.

A Growing List of Victims

Iranian athletes have increasingly lost their lives at the hands of security forces during protests.

Ali Mozafari, a member of the Saipa volleyball club, was shot dead during protests in Qochan on September 30, 2022. Mohammad Ghaemifar, the goalkeeper for the Dezful football team, was fatally shot by regime forces in October 2022. Targeted in a dead-end alley, Ghaemifar was shot in the back of his head and succumbed to his injuries 15 days later.

Ehsan Ghasemifar, a 32-year-old bodybuilding champion from Karaj, was killed during protests in December 2022. Ghasemifar, an international representative for Iran, was surrounded by security forces while livestreaming on Instagram. His family was pressured to claim his death was due to a “heart attack.”

Now, Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, another promising young athlete, faces execution. Despite consistently denying all charges against him, Iran’s judiciary remains determined to carry out the death sentence.

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