International Olympic Committee ‘shocked’ by execution of Iranian fighter | News off the field

LAUSANNE: The International Olympic Committee He said he was “shocked” by the execution on Saturday of a young Iranian fighter for the murder of a public sector worker during the anti-government protests in 2018.
Navid Afkari was executed in a prison in the city of Shiraz, in southern Iran, something that the COI he said it was “very sad news.”
“The IOC is shocked by this announcement today,” he added.

IOC President Thomas Bach had made “direct personal appeals to the Supreme Leader and President of Iran this week and requested clemency for Navid Afkari, respecting the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
“It is deeply upsetting that the pleas of athletes around the world and all the behind-the-scenes work of the IOC, along with the NOC of Iran, United World Wrestling and the National Wrestling Federation of Iran, did not achieve our goal.
“Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Navid Afkari.”
Afkari, 27, was convicted of “voluntary manslaughter” for stabbing Hossein Torkman, a water department worker, to death on August 2, 2018, according to the Iranian judiciary.
Shiraz and several other urban centers of the Islamic republic had been the scene that day of protests and demonstrations against the government due to economic and social difficulties.
Reports published abroad say Afkari was convicted on the basis of confessions broadcast on television after being extracted under torture, sparking online campaigns in support of his release.