Iran Executes Ex-Wrestling Champion on Drug Charges

The Islamic Republic's authorities have executed a former wrestling champion on drug-related charges, human rights sources reported. 

Morteza Yousefi, a 40-year-old former champion of Iran's Greco-Roman wrestling team, was executed in Nowshahr Central Prison on Wednesday morning.

Yousefi, a resident of Sang-Tajan village in Nowshahr city of northern Mazandaran province, had been arrested on drug charges. He was subsequently sentenced to death by the Islamic Republic's judiciary, according to the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights.

Yousefi held a bachelor's degree in physical education and was an athlete and coach in Greco-Roman wrestling. 

The head coach of the Iranian national Greco-Roman team, Hassan Rangraz, shared a letter written by Yousefi the night before his execution, in which he appealed to the judiciary, urging them to overturn the death sentence and reduce his punishment.

According to a report by Amnesty International, Iran has reached its highest level of death sentence execution in the last eight years, with the judiciary of the Islamic Republic executing 853 people in 2023 alone.

The report indicates that 481 executions, more than half of the total, were related to drug crimes. 

This marks an 89 percent rise in death penalties for drug-related offenses compared to 2022, when 255 people were executed. 

The latest numbers also show a staggering 264 percent increase compared to 2021, when 132 individuals faced execution on similar charges.