[ad_1]
Image source
Twitter
Iranian wrestling champion is running out of thoughts
US President Donald Trump has called on Tehran to revoke the death sentence imposed on wrestling champion Naveed Afkari, who participated in anti-government protests two years ago.
Trump tweeted Thursday: “To the leaders of Iran, I would be very grateful if you saved the life of this young man and did not execute him.”
Afkari, 27, has been sentenced to death twice for the murder of a security guard during protests in the Iranian city of Shiraz.
However, it is feared that his confession was obtained through torture.
His two brothers, Wahid and Habib, were also sentenced to 54 and 27 years in prison in the same case, according to Iranian human rights activists.
“The only action the fighter took was an anti-government demonstration in the streets,” Trump said according to a media report.
“We join the world in declaring outrage at the death sentence imposed by the Iranian regime on Navid Afkar, who was tortured into making a false confession after participating in peaceful protests in 2018,” the State Department spokeswoman tweeted, Morgan Ortigus.
She added: “The regime also tortured her two brothers and sentenced them to decades in prison. They released them!”
Various figures and activists from the international wrestling game demanded the release of the two brothers, and more than 10,000 people signed a petition calling for the life of my ideas.
An Iranian state television news agency confirmed on Thursday that Navid had been sentenced to death.
But Navid said in a leaked audio recording of the prison where he is being held, that he had been tortured. Meanwhile, his mother said her children were forced to testify against each other under torture.
Hassan Younesi, the lawyer for the two brothers, said in a tweet on Twitter that contrary to Iranian news reports, there is no video showing the moment the security guard was killed. He added that the images used as evidence in the case were taken an hour before the crime.
In 2018, protesters took to the streets in all cities of Iran due to economic conditions and political repression.
Other demonstrations were also held late last year against high fuel prices.
In a report released this week, Amnesty International reported that more than 7,000 people, including children as young as 10, were arrested in the crackdown that followed the 2019 riots.
