Iran Executes Wrestling Champion Despite International Outcry

 

Iran executed a wrestler accused of murder, defying international appeals for him to be spared.  27-year-old Navid Afkari was sentenced to death over the murder of a security guard during a wave of anti-government protests in 2018.  He said he had been tortured into making a confession.  Afkari was executed by hanging in the southern city of Shiraz, according to Iran state media.  Afkari was a national champion in wrestling, a sport that has a long history and is hugely popular in Iran.

 

Human rights organization Amnesty International described Afkari's execution as a "travesty of justice".  In a leaked recording released by the group, Afkari says: "If I am executed, I want you to know that an innocent person, even though he tried and fought with all his strength to be heard, was executed."  His lawyer, Hassan Younesi, said his client had been prevented from seeing his family before his death, as required under Iranian law.  "Were you in such a hurry to carry out the sentence that you deprived Navid of a last visit?" Younesi said on Twitter.

 

There had been many calls to stop the execution, including from a union representing 85,000 athletes worldwide.  The World Players Association said he had been "unjustly targeted" for taking part in the protests, and called for Iran's expulsion from world sport if it went ahead with the execution.  The International Olympic Committee (IOC) called his execution "very sad news" and said their thoughts were with his family and friends.  "It is deeply upsetting that the pleas of athletes from around the world and all the behind-the-scenes work of the IOC... did not achieve our goal," their statement said.

 

Afkari's brothers Vahid and Habib were sentenced to 54 and 27 years in prison in the same case.  In an audio recording leaked from the prison where he was being held, Afkari had said he had been tortured.  According to his mother, Afkari's brothers were forced to testify against each other.  According to Afkari's lawyer, there was no video of the moment of the security guard's killing-- contradicting Iranian news reports.  Afkari's lawyer added that the footage used as evidence in the case was taken an hour before the crime took place.