Wrestling Champion Navid Afkari Executed in Iran at Age 27

Iranian wrestler Navid Afkari was executed Saturday despite international efforts to save his life, including pleas from United States President Donald Trump and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach. He was 27.

CNN's Artemis Moshtaghian, Ramin Mostaghim and Ivana Kottasova wrote that the IRNA, Iran's state-run media agency, reported Afkari was executed for confessing to the murder of government official Hasan Turkman during an August 2018 protest.

The country's Supreme Court upheld the execution ruling, though it allowed Turkman's family the opportunity to spare Afkari's life if it offered forgiveness and allowed for restitution to be paid. The family refused, and the Shiraz judiciary imposed the death sentence, per CNN.

Hassan Younesi, the wrestler's lawyer, told CNN the execution was completed without alerting Afkari's family.

The IOC released a statement saying it was "shocked" by the decision:

"The execution of wrestler Navid Afkari in Iran is very sad news. The IOC is shocked by this announcement today. In letters, Thomas Bach, the IOC President, had made direct personal appeals to the Supreme Leader and to the President of Iran this week and asked for mercy for Navid Afkari, while respecting the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is deeply upsetting that the pleas of athletes from around the world and all the behind-the-scenes work of the IOC, together with the NOC of Iran, United World Wrestling and the National Iranian Wrestling Federation, did not achieve our goal. Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Navid Afkari."

The World Players Association, which represents athletes at the international level, stated Afkari was "sentenced to death twice after being tortured into making a false confession," per CNN.

"Navid was one of thousands of Iranian citizens who took part in spontaneous demonstrations that year against economic hardship and political repression in Iran," the WPA stated. "However, he has been unjustly targeted by the Iranian authorities who want to make an example out of a popular, high-profile athlete and intimidate others who might dare exercise their human right to participate in peaceful protest."

Trump had asked the Iranian government to show leniency last week after a conversation with UFC President Dana White:

BBC News noted human rights organization Amnesty International called the execution a "travesty of justice" and released a recording from Afkari.

"If I am executed, I want you to know that an innocent person, even though he tried and fought with all his strength to be heard, was executed," he said.

Afkari was an Iranian national champion in Greco-Roman wrestling.