Iran said it executed a young wrestler on Saturday over the murder of a public sector worker during anti-government protests in August 2018.
Navid Afkari was executed in the morning at a prison in the southern city of Shiraz, provincial prosecutor general Kazem Mousavi was quoted as saying on state television’s website.
Iran said Saturday that it had executed a 27-year-old wrestler accused of murder after he took part in anti-government protests two years ago, a case that set off a campaign by international sports groups to demand clemency for the athlete.
The wrestler, Navid Afkari, was executed on Saturday morning at a prison in the southern city of Shiraz, his lawyers confirmed. Mr Afkari was accused of fatally stabbing a water-utility worker amid unrest in his home city, Shiraz, a centre of the anti-government protests that swept the country in 2018.
The charges against him had been met with widespread scepticism in Iran and abroad, with many government critics saying he was being used as an example to silence dissent. In an audiotape smuggled from prison, Mr Afkari said he had been tortured until he falsely confessed to the crime.
Mr Afkari’s lawyers said Saturday that Iranian officials had carried out the execution without giving their client a final visit with his family, which they said was dictated by law. Mr Afkari’s family was notified Saturday morning, after the execution.
The International Olympic Committee said it was shocked and saddened by the execution.
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“It is deeply upsetting that the pleas of athletes from around the world and all the behind-the-scenes work of the I.O.C., together with the N.O.C. of Iran, United World Wrestling and the National Iranian Wrestling Federation did not achieve our goal,” the committee said in a statement, referring to Iranian and global sports groups.
Though Mr Afkari had never competed in the Olympics, many had urged the I.O.C. to take action, saying it had an obligation to protect athletes at all levels. The I.O.C. said its president, Thomas Bach, had directly appealed to the country’s supreme leader and president, asking for mercy for Mr Afkari.
The head of the local judiciary, Seyed Kazem Mousavi, told official Iranian news media that the execution was “carried out after due judicial process and at the insistence of the family of the murdered victim.” Under Iranian law, the blood relatives of a victim can forgive a defendant, often after compensation is paid.
