Iranian wrestling champion ‘Navid Afkari’ has been executed according to state media.
Afkari was convicted of stabbing a security gaurd to death during anti-government protests in 2018, his execution has triggered international outcry.
According to state media, the head of the justice department in the southern Fars province stated that Afkari was executed “this morning after legal procedures were carried out at the insistence of the parents and the family of the victim”.
Afkari’s family and activists said that the champion wrestler was tortured into making a false confession, which Iran’s judiciary has denied, and his attorney stated that there was no proof of his guilt.
Representing 85,000 athletes, a global union called for Iran’s expulsion from world sport if Afkari was executed.
US President Donald Trump also called on Iran to not execute Afkari.