Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, an Iranian boxer imprisoned in Iran who has been sentenced to death three times, has received the prestigious Magnitsky Award for his human rights work.
The boxing champion and coach received the award at a ceremony held Thursday in London. According to human rights organizations, he is one of seven Iranian athletes at risk of execution.
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In a message sent from Vakilabad prison in northeastern Iran, the 31-year-old said he would not submit to repression. He dedicated the award to those paying with their lives for freedom, as well as to everyone imprisoned, tortured, threatened or sentenced to death for wanting a free Iran.
He said the regime demands that they repent, make forced confessions on camera and surrender. Their answer, he stressed, is that they will never surrender or accept humiliation.
Vafaei Sani was arrested in 2020 after taking part in nationwide protests in 2019 calling for democratic change. Iranian authorities accused him of supporting the opposition group People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK).
After being found guilty of “corruption on earth,” he received his third death sentence in September 2024. Amnesty International has described his trial as deeply unfair. On October 4, 2025, the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence. During his imprisonment, he has reportedly been tortured and spent long periods in solitary confinement.
His case has prompted reactions outside Iran. Athletes, human rights organizations and legal experts have called for his immediate release and for his death sentence to be overturned.
The Magnitsky Award is named after Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in Russian police custody after exposing government corruption. Established in 2015, the awards honor journalists, politicians and activists committed to defending human rights.
William Browder, head of the Magnitsky Justice Foundation and chair of the awards committee, said the boxer’s case reflects the fate of many Iranians who face execution for opposing the regime. According to Browder, the most important fact is that Mohammad Javad is still alive: international attention to his case makes it harder for him to be killed in silence.
The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights says at least 710 people have been executed in Iran since the beginning of 2026, including 79 political and religious prisoners.
Hengaw has also documented at least 106 death sentences for people arrested during the January protests; 35 of them have been executed. At Vakilabad prison, where Vafaei Sani is held, five people have been executed in connection with the protests, while 15 others face the death penalty.
In his message, the boxer described his dream of a free and democratic Iran where citizens can vote without obstruction, women and men enjoy equality, and no one is imprisoned or executed for their political beliefs. He said he would remain true to his oath and would not submit to oppression until the people of Iran are free.
