Human rights experts, activists, legislators, and politicians from across the world are calling on the international community to intervene and stop the imminent execution of Mohammad Javad Vafa’i Thani, a 27-year-old political prisoner in Mashhad’s Vakil Abad prison.
Mr. Vafa’i Thani, 27, a boxing champion from Mashhad, was arrested in March 2020 for taking part in the November 2019 nationwide protests. He was tortured for a long time to make incriminating confessions. He was sentenced to death on charges of “corruption on earth,” a bogus crime that the regime uses against dissidents. A court in Mashhad upheld his death sentence on July 19 and he was subsequently taken to an unknown location.
This barbaric sentence, which comes amidst a growing wave of repressive measures by the regime as we near the first anniversary of the September 2022 uprising, has triggered global outrage.
In an urgent letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, 96 international NGOs, current and former United Nations officials, human rights and legal experts, and Nobel laureates called for immediate intervention to prevent the imminent execution of Vafa’i Thani.
“We request your urgent public intervention to save the life of Iranian political prisoner Mohammad Javad Vafa’i Thani,” the letter reads in part. “In recent months, the Iranian authorities have executed at least seven other protesters on similar bogus charges with total impunity. These political executions are a callous attempt by the authorities to frighten and silence an increasingly restive population no longer willing to accept their corrupt and oppressive rule.”
In a separate letter to Volker Turk, ten former ministers from Canada, Australia, Ireland, Iceland, Finland, Poland, and Malta warned about the risks against the life of Vafa’i Thani. “Mohammad Javad Vafa’i Thani, 27, who has been sentenced on the bogus charge of “corruption on Earth,” is a political prisoner sympathizing with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK).” The letter reads in part. “We are urging you to deliver an urgent statement to save the life of this political prisoner.”
In a letter to the Australian Foreign Minister, Australian Supporters of Democracy in Iran expressed their support for “the call by the Iranian Resistance to Australia, the European Union and the United Nations and all its Member States, as well as all human rights organizations and bodies, to take urgent action to save the life of this political prisoner and prevent his execution after he has already served a four-year prison term.”
The letter, which was signed by 25 members of the federal and provincial legislatures of Australia, urged the Australian government “to issue a strong statement to call on the Iranian government to cancel the threat of execution against Mr Vafa’i Thani, and to condemn all these executions as an escalation of repression.”
The signatories also called for more strict measures on the Iranian regime, including sanctions on judiciary and Revolutionary Guards figures who carried out the executions of political prisoners, cancellation of diplomatic visa of a senior regime diplomat, and an asset freeze on the family of Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the current speaker of the Majlis (parliament).
In a statement, the Sports Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) called on all athletes and sport organizations to condemn the criminal death sentence of Vafa’i Thani and called immediate intervention to save his life.
“The oppressive and criminal government of the mullahs once again plans a crime against one of Iran’s sports champions,” the statement reads in part. “The NCRI Sport Committee, while appreciating everyone who has risen against the execution of Mr. Vafaei, calls upon all international sports organizations, human rights defenders, and sports bodies to take urgent action to save his life.”
In a to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Canadian MP Judy Sgro, wrote, “It is with great urgency that we write to you to urge you to use your good offices to stop the imminent execution of Mohammad Javad Vafai, a 27-year-old boxing champion in the North Eastern city of Mash’had.”
Mrs. Sgro also warned that that regime has execute more than 400 people since the beginning of the year with an accelerating pace in recent weeks, “in an apparent bid to prevent further uprisings as the anniversary of September 2022 uprising swept the country following the brutal death of Mahsa Amini while in custody by the morality police.”
In a letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Canadian MP Michael Cooper warned about the possible imminent execution of Mohammad Javad 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
“Mr. Vafai has been imprisoned since March 2020 by the regime because of his political beliefs and has been subjected to torture and inhumane conditions,” Mr. Cooper writes. “What is particularly worrisome regarding the fate of Mr. Vafai is the disturbing similarity of his case and that of Mr. Navid Afkari.”
Navid Afkari was a wrestling champion from Fars province who was arrested after taking part in protests in 2018. He too was tortured to make incriminating confessions and was executed on charges of “corruption on Earth.”
At the same time, freedom-loving Iranians and supporters of the Iranian Resistance held protest rallies in different cities across the world, calling for urgent action to save the life of Mohammad Javad Vafa’i Thani and to halt executions in Iran.