Boxer on death row in Iran vows ‘not to bow before oppression’ after winning rights prize

Political prisoner Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, one of seven athletes at risk of execution in Iran, given prestigious Magnitsky humanitarian award

A boxer and political prisoner on death row in Iran said he will “never surrender” as he accepted a prestigious human rights prize on behalf of “the generation that is paying the price of freedom with their lives”.

Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, an Iranian boxing champion, coach and political prisoner, has been sentenced to death three times and is one of seven athletes at risk of execution in Iran. He was given the Magnitsky award for outstanding human rights activist at a ceremony in London on Thursday night.

In a written message from Vakilabad prison in north-eastern Iran, he said: “I accept this award in the name of all those who, for the ‘crime’ of aspiring to a free Iran, have been imprisoned, tortured, threatened, or sentenced to death; in the name of my comrades in the resistance units and the generation that is paying the price of freedom with their lives.”

He added: “The regime demands repentance, televised confessions and surrender from us. But our answer is clear: ‘We will never surrender; we will never submit to humiliation.’”

Vafaei Sani, 31, was arrested in 2020 for taking part in nationwide democracy protests in 2019 and accused of supporting an opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK).

He was convicted of “corruption on Earth” and sentenced to death for a third time in September 2024 after “a grossly unfair trial”, according to Amnesty International. The supreme court upheld his death sentence on 4 October 2025. Since his arrest he has been tortured and held in solitary confinement for extended periods.

His continued imprisonment has drawn widespread international condemnation from prominent sportspeople, human rights organisations and legal experts who have called for his immediate release and the annulment of his death sentence.

The Magnitsky awards are named after the Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, who died in Russian police custody after exposing government corruption. They began in 2015 as a way to recognise journalists, politicians and activists in the field of human rights.

Sir William Browder, head of the Magnitsky Justice Foundation and the chair of the awards committee, said Vafaei Sani’s case was emblematic of the plight of many Iranians who face execution for standing against the regime. “Most important, Mohammad Javad is still alive,” he said. “That is why this award matters. Every time the world pays attention, it becomes harder to kill him quietly.”

According to the Hengaw Organisation for Human Rights, at least 710 people have been executed in Iran since the beginning of 2026, including 79 political and religious prisoners.

In an October report, the organisation documented at least 106 death sentences against January protest detainees, 35 of whom had already been executed. In Vakilabad prison, where Vafaei Sani is detained, five people have been executed linked to the protests and 15 others are facing death sentences.

Vafaei Sani’s award comes at a time when there are growing fears for imprisoned Iranian athletes, who are considered role models in the country. Zohreh Abdollahkhani, founder of Human Rights for Sport, said: “The situation is really dire … We have seven athletes at risk of execution now, including Vafaei Sani.”

Ali-Sina Mostafavi, a mountaineer, was executed on 14 October after the anti-government protests. His death followed the killing of Siavash Jamshidi Kheirabadi, a taekwondo athlete, earlier that month, and the mixed martial arts fighter Gholamreza Khani Shakarab, who was hanged in May.

Abdollahkhani said people had been celebrating Vafaei Sani’s award. “Even people who don’t support his political view are supporting him to be heard,” she said. “I find it very inspiring that different political groups are coming together to say no to execution.”

In his message, Vafaei Sani said he wanted “a free and democratic Iran … where the people vote freely, women and men are equal, there is no discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, religion or belief, and no one is imprisoned or executed for political opposition”.

He added: “I remain steadfast in my pledge, and I will not bow before oppression until the people of Iran are free.”