Iranian boxer on death row Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani wins the Magnitsky rights award and vows 'never surrender'
Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, a 31-year-old Iranian boxing champion and coach held in Vakilabad prison under a death sentence, has been given the 2026 Magnitsky Award for outstanding human rights activist at a ceremony in London on Thursday night. In a written message from prison he said: 'We will never surrender; we will never submit to humiliation.' He was arrested in 2020 over the November 2019 protests, accused of supporting the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, and sentenced to death for a third time in September 2024 on a 'corruption on Earth' conviction that Amnesty International calls the product of a grossly unfair trial; the Supreme Court upheld the sentence in October 2025.
Key points
- The 2026 Magnitsky Award for outstanding human rights activist was presented in London on Thursday night to a man under sentence of death.
- His prison message: 'We will never surrender; we will never submit to humiliation.'
- Sentenced to death three times over the 2019 protests; the Supreme Court upheld the sentence in October 2025.
Show more (1)
- He is one of seven athletes at risk of execution in Iran, on the Human Rights for Sport founder's count.
What happened
Vafaei Sani's case has drawn athletes beyond boxing: in June, Martina Navratilova, Sharron Davies and Craig Foster were among those who called for his release. His request for a retrial was rejected in December 2025 and his case referred for the sentence to be carried out, the NCRI's US office reports — which is the backdrop against which the award's organisers say attention itself is protection.
What we know / what we don't know yet
What we know
- That the award was given, what he wrote from prison, and the dates of his convictions and the Supreme Court's ruling — from the awards' own record and The Guardian's report.
What we don't know yet
- Whether or when the sentence will be carried out — no execution date is public in the reporting read.
- Any Iranian government response to the award — none was in the reporting read.
- A second count of Iran's 2026 executions to set against Hengaw's figures — none was read.
Claim by claim
Show all claims (5)
Why this label: The award and its category are on the awards' own site; the London ceremony and its timing are The Guardian's report.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: These are his own written words, quoted by The Guardian; that he wrote them is verified by the message itself as reported. Sir William Browder, who chairs the awards committee, said the award matters because Vafaei Sani is still alive: 'Every time the world pays attention, it becomes harder to kill him quietly.'
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The case dates agree between the awards' own biography and The Guardian; the MEK-support charge is the authorities' accusation, and the 'grossly unfair' characterisation is Amnesty International's, attributed as such.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: The seven-athletes figure is the Human Rights for Sport founder's count, carried as hers; the three named athletes' fates are The Guardian's reporting.
On the ladder: a claim earns Verified from primary evidence, or from two independent sources that do not copy each other.
Why this label: These are Hengaw's figures as reported by The Guardian; no second organisation's count was read, so they are carried as Hengaw's account, not as a settled total.
On the ladder: the evidence so far sits low — early, single or social sources. We publish the claim as a claim, never as fact.
Why it matters
The award does not change his legal position: the sentence stands, upheld by the Supreme Court, and a retrial has been refused. What it changes is visibility — the committee's stated reasoning is that a prisoner the world is watching is harder to execute quietly. Seven athletes now stand under the same risk, on the count of the organisation that tracks them.
Background
Show the background timeline (6)
Nationwide protests in Iran; Vafaei Sani takes part.
He is arrested and accused of supporting the MEK; the first of three death sentences follows.
Sentenced to death for a third time, after two earlier sentences were overturned.
The Supreme Court upholds the death sentence.
A request for retrial is rejected and the case referred for implementation of the sentence.
The Magnitsky Award is presented in London; his written message is read on his behalf.
Update history
No silent edits. Every change is written here, with its time.
- Latest
Published. Basis: the Magnitsky Awards' own record of the winner, with The Guardian's report of the ceremony and his message.