PARIS — An Iranian boxer sentenced to death on charges of membership in an outlawed group is at imminent risk of execution after his request for a retrial was rejected, rights groups and the exiled opposition said on Wednesday.

The World Boxing Council and sporting luminaries, including former tennis star Martina Navratilova, have called on Iran to spare the life of Mohammad Javad Vafaei-Sani, 30, a silver medalist in the national boxing championship.

Vafaei-Sani was arrested in 2020 over involvement in 2019 protests, charged with membership in the People’s Mujahedin (PMOI, also known by the Persian acronym MEK) organization, which is banned in Iran, and sentenced to death after being convicted of the capital crime of “corruption on earth.”

This week, he was informed that his request for a retrial had been rejected by Iran’s Supreme Court, while his case has now been sent to the office for implementation of sentences, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said.

Meanwhile, his mother was “unexpectedly” granted a visit to her son held in the Vakilabad prison in the eastern city of Mashhad, it added. It is common in Iran for relatives to meet convicts for a........

© The Times of Israel