A global outcry has surged from human rights activists, lawmakers, and politicians across the world, demanding immediate intervention to halt the looming execution of Iranian political prisoner, Mohammad Javad Vafa’i Thani. The 27-year-old boxing champion is incarcerated in Mashhad’s Vakil Abad prison, facing the grim threat of capital punishment for his involvement in the November 2019 nationwide protests.
Vafa’i Thani was arrested in March 2020, subjected to long bouts of torture to extract self-incriminating confessions, and was ultimately sentenced to death on the fabricated charges of “corruption on earth.” His death sentence, upheld by a Mashhad court on July 19, 2023, has further intensified a global backlash against the oppressive regime, particularly as the first anniversary of the September 2022 uprising approaches.
A call to arms, in the form of an urgent letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, was dispatched by 96 international NGOs, UN officials, legal and human rights experts, and Nobel laureates. The letter unreservedly denounced the regime’s recent executions of seven other protesters under similar pretenses and called for urgent intervention to save Vafa’i Thani.
Yesterday, political prisoner Mohammad Javad Vafai was sentenced to death by the Iranian regime on bogus charges.
This is part of a wave of violence & executions perpetrated by the regime.
I have written the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights & @melaniejoly to intervene. pic.twitter.com/9DJQLV9tD6
— Michael Cooper, MP (@Cooper4SAE) July 20, 2023
In a separate appeal to Türk, ten former ministers from seven countries voiced their concerns over Vafa’i Thani’s plight, asserting that these political executions were part of the Iranian authorities’ campaign to silence the burgeoning resistance against their rule.
The Australian Supporters of Democracy in Iran, supported by 25 members of Australian federal and provincial legislatures, echoed similar sentiments in a letter to the Australian Foreign Minister. The group implored international bodies, human rights organizations, and nations to take urgent action to prevent Vafa’i Thani’s execution.
There is also a demand for stricter actions against the Iranian regime, which include sanctions on judiciary and Revolutionary Guards figures who have performed political executions, diplomatic visa cancellation for a senior regime diplomat, and an asset freeze on the family of Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the current Speaker of Majlis (parliament).
The Sports Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) issued a powerful statement urging all athletes and sporting organizations to condemn Vafa’i Thani’s death sentence and to push for his immediate release.
Amidst this escalating international tension, Canadian MPs, Judy Sgro, and Michael Cooper, have also penned separate letters to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, calling for urgent intervention. Their letters caution about the ominous pattern of executions in Iran, highlighting the disturbingly similar fate of another sportsman, Navid Afkari, who was executed on similar charges.
These events coincide with global protests by freedom-loving Iranians and supporters of the Iranian Resistance, all fervently demanding urgent action to save Vafa’i Thani and to halt executions in Iran.
MEK Iran (follow us on Twitter and Facebook), Maryam Rajavi’s on her site, Twitter & Facebook, NCRI (Twitter & Facebook), and People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran – MEK IRAN – YouTu
