Boxer on death row in Iran vows ‘not to bow before oppression’ after winning rights prize
Summary
Iranian boxer and political prisoner Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani accepted the Magnitsky award for outstanding human rights activism through a message from prison. He said he would not surrender and dedicated the award to people imprisoned or sentenced to death for seeking a free Iran.Key Facts
- Vafaei Sani is 31 and was arrested in 2020 over his alleged participation in 2019 democracy protests and support for the opposition group MEK.
- Iran sentenced him to death three times, most recently in September 2024, and the Supreme Court upheld the sentence on 4 October 2025.
- Amnesty International described his trial as grossly unfair.
- Vafaei Sani has been tortured and held in solitary confinement for extended periods, according to the account of his case.
- Hengaw Organisation for Human Rights says at least 710 people have been executed in Iran since the start of 2026, including 79 political and religious prisoners.
- Hengaw documented at least 106 death sentences against people detained over January protests; 35 had already been executed, according to the organisation.
- Human Rights for Sport founder Zohreh Abdollahkhani said seven Iranian athletes, including Vafaei Sani, were at risk of execution.
- The Magnitsky awards began in 2015 and are named after Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in Russian police custody.
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