After two previous reversals, Iran’s Supreme Court has once again upheld the death sentence of a young boxing coach from Mashhad, accused for his role in the November 2019 protests. His case exemplifies the regime’s deep-rooted injustice and political repression.
Regime Supreme Court Confirms Death Sentence for a Political Prisoner
On Saturday, October 4, 2025, Iran regime’s Supreme Court confirmed for the third time the death sentence of Mohammad Javad Vafaei-Sani, a political prisoner and supporter of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), as well as a former boxing champion from Mashhad.
The ruling, announced on social media by his lawyer Babak Paknia, follows years of judicial manipulation and repeated reversals by the same court. Paknia wrote on X (formerly Twitter):
“The death sentence of Mr. Mohammad Javad Vafaei-Sani… despite numerous legal flaws, was confirmed by Branch 9 of the Supreme Court.”
Arrest and Torture After the 2019 Protests
Born in 1996, Vafaei-Sani was a respected boxing instructor and athlete in Mashhad. He was arrested in February 2020 by security forces in connection with the nationwide protests of November 2019, a period marked by mass arrests and lethal crackdowns on demonstrators.
According to human rights sources, he spent the first 65 days of detention under severe physical and psychological torture, aimed at extracting false confessions.
He was charged with “corruption on earth through deliberate destruction of public property” — a vague and politically motivated accusation often used against protesters and dissidents.
A Cycle of Injustice and Political Pressure
Vafaei-Sani was initially sentenced to death by Judge Mansouri of the Mashhad Revolutionary Court. That sentence was later overturned by the Supreme Court due to procedural flaws. However, the lower court reissued the same ruling twice, ignoring the prior objections.
In September 2024, Branch 3 of the Revolutionary Court again imposed the death penalty, and now, in October 2025, the Supreme Court has confirmed it — a clear sign of political pressure from security institutions.
Human rights defenders have condemned the process as a flagrant violation of the right to a fair trial, highlighting:
- No effective access to legal counsel during interrogation;
- Reliance on forced confessions extracted under torture;
- Lack of concrete forensic evidence;
- Secret, short trials closed to the public.
Even his lawyer has warned that “the intervention of security agencies” has heavily influenced the outcome. Paknia has called on the judiciary to dispatch an independent review board before, in his words, “it becomes too late.”
Resistance and Human Rights Reactions
The Iranian Resistance and multiple international human rights organizations have warned of the imminent danger facing Vafaei-Sani. They stress that the repetition of the same death sentence, despite earlier annulments, exposes the judiciary’s complete subservience to the regime’s repressive apparatus.
Under international law, the death penalty can only be imposed after a transparent and fair process — conditions blatantly absent in this case.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and PMOI have denounced the ruling as part of a broader campaign to intimidate Iranian youth, especially those linked to the Resistance movement.
