Mohammad Javad Vafayi-Sani

Mohammad Javad Vafayi-Sani is a 29-year-old boxing champion arrested in February 2020 in relation to the November 2019 nationwide protests and subjected to torture to obtain forced confessions. He was set a bail of 30 billion tomans (around €950k at the time) which his family could not afford. He is detained in Mashhad Central Prison.

Charges: Sentenced to death for efsad-fil-arz (corruption on earth) through arson and intentional destruction of special buildings, including a government penitentiary building by the Mashhad Revolutionary Court. The Supreme Court has previously overturned his sentence twice.

Status: Resentenced to death for the third time in September 2024. On 4 October 2025, his lawyer  reported that Mohammad Javad’s death sentence had been upheld by Branch 9 of the Supreme Court. He tweeted: “Regarding the flaws and third-party interference in the judicial process, correspondence has been sent to the Head of the Judiciary; I hope his special inspectors will look into the matter before it is too late.”

On 6 December 2025, at the same time as reports of Mohammad Javad being transferred to solitary confinement, his lawyer posted: "Again, due to various reasons, a retrial request has been submitted to the Supreme Court on behalf of Mohammad Javad Vafayi-Sani and this requires that the implementation of the sentence be halted. We have explained the extrajudicial process that has taken place in this case to officials of the Judiciary and the office of the Head of the Judiciary; if this is ignored, we will be forced to publish the correspondence.” A stay of execution order was issued by the Supreme Court on 22 December 2025.