Iran executes champion wrestler ahead of Afkari's remembrance

Just a day before the fourth anniversary of the execution of champion Greco-Roman wrestler Navid Afkari, the Islamic Republic reportedly hanged a second decorated Greco-Roman wrestler, Morteza Yousefi, on Wednesday.

Iran’s government executed Yousefi in Nowshahr Central Prison after he was sentenced to death on drug-related charges, according to the Norway-based Kurdish human rights NGO Hengaw.

According to Hengaw, Yousefi, who was executed in the northern Mazandaran Province, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in physical education and worked as a Greco-Roman wrestling coach. Greco-Roman is a type of Olympic wrestling that involves upper body grappling, barring lower body attacks.

Hengaw wrote that “Hassan Rangraz, the head coach of the Iranian national Greco-Roman wrestling team, shared a picture of a letter from Morteza Yousefi addressed to the judiciary the night before the execution, urging the head of the judiciary to overturn the death sentence and reduce his punishment."

The explosion of executions for drug-related offenses in Iran prompted, in April, eighty-two Iranian and international human rights groups to demand that the UN agency on drugs and crime suspend its cooperation with Tehran until it ends the use of the death penalty for narcotics-related crimes.

In the early morning hours of September 12, 2020, authorities hastily hanged the innocent wrestler, Navid Afkari. In January 2021, Iran’s government also executed wrestler Mehdi Ali-Hosseini, who had been charged with pre-meditated murder, allegedly committed during a group brawl.

A global campaign among elite wrestlers sought to stop the execution of Afkari who was arrested in 2018 for participating in a protest in Shiraz against the Islamic Republic’s political and economic corruption. According to a widely discredited account by Iran’s judiciary, Afkari killed Hassan Torkman, a water company security employee and Basij member, who tracked demonstrators at the 2018 protest in Shiraz. Afkari declared before his execution: “There is not one shred of evidence … they are looking for a neck for their rope.”

The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said at the time that the authorities imposed sustained torture on Navid and his brother, Vahid, to secure phony confessions. Vahid is still incarcerated in Iran. The one organization that was positioned to save Navid’s life and secure the release of Vahid (a third brother, Hamid, was freed in 2022) was the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Yet the IOC and the United World Wrestling (UWW) organization failed to exert their significant leverage on then-President Hassan Rouhani to secure a stay of execution, according to sports experts.

“The IOC has clearly failed to uphold their duty of care for athletes. Navid was brutally executed for peacefully protesting. Athletes around the world called on the IOC to stand up against the Iranian Regime to protect Navid but they refused to,“ Rob Koehler, the Director General of Global Athlete, told Iran International. Global Athlete is an organization fighting to advance the human rights of athletes across the globe.

“With the death of Navid, the IOC had an opportunity to send a strong message by banning Iran from the Olympics - that did not happen as they always favor protecting authoritarian regimes over basic fundamental athlete and human rights," Koehler added.

Numerous Iran International press queries to the IOC and UWW were not answered.

Alireza Nader, an Iran expert, told Iran International on Afkari’s case, “The Islamic Republic should be suspended from all international sporting events until justice for the Afkari brothers is served and regime officials responsible for these crimes are brought to justice.”

Iranian-American lawyer Elika Eftekhari, who specializes in international sanctions, primarily drafted proposed US congressional legislation named the “Toomaj Act” after the incarcerated Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi to punish Iran’s government. The bill was introduced into the House in late May and aims “to impose sanctions on the judges, prosecutors and investigators of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Revolutionary Courts.” According to the legislation, “Examples of victims of the Islamic Revolutionary Courts are plentiful.

Eftekhari told Iran International, “The Iranian people’s vigilant demands of justice for Navid and Vahid continue unabated, as can be seen by the fierce social support for the comments of their brother, Saeed Afkari following the death of President Raisi, in which Saeed confirmed their mother’s happiness at the news.”

She added, “In terms of accountability, first, there are sanctions, which should be put on all judges, prosecutors and investigators of the Islamic Revolutionary Courts, as the TOOMAJ Act calls for in the United States. But more importantly even, targeted sanctions policies of Western governments should change to include all immediate family members, to whom assets can be transferred, and can travel freely while their spouses and fathers execute innocent Iranians with false charges derived from torture.” 

Eftekhari said, “As for accountability, the IOC and UWW should raise more awareness and demonstrate their support for Navid and Vahid. This can take the form of official statements, awards and ceremonies named in honor of the brothers, observing a minute of silence for Navid, joining other organizations in calling for the release of Vahid, and refusing to award medals to Islamic Republic teams. This latter option provides an opportunity to both shame the regime, and make it face audiences disturbed by their human rights crimes. One thing we know for certain about the Islamic Republic is that it hates to be shamed or embarrassed in international forums.”