The Supreme Court upheld the death sentence of Mohammad Javad Vafaei-Thani, on Wednesday, July 19, 2023.
Mr. Vafaei-Thani, 27, was a local boxing champion in Mashhad and a supporter of the main opposition group People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI). He was arrested in March 2020 for taking part in the November 2019 anti-government protests. He was tortured for several months and detained in Mashhad’s Vakil Abad prison.He was eventually handed down an execution sentence for “corruption on Earth” by Branch Four of the Mashhad Revolutionary Court.
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.
According to information received from Vakil-Abad Prison in the city of Mashhad, a prison judge went to the political prisoners’ ward, where he informed Vafaei-Thani that his execution verdict had been finalized. Vafaei-Thani was then summoned and taken by a prison guard to an unknown location. There is no further information about his current whereabouts.
Iran Human Rights Monitor (Iran HRM), 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 Vafaei-Thani.
