Iranian boxing champion, coach, and political prisoner Mohammad Javad Vafaei-Sani, who faces execution over charges linked to his political activities and support for the opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), received the prestigious 2026 Magnitsky Human Rights Award for Outstanding Human Rights Activist at a ceremony in London on Thursday, November 12, 2026.
The award recognizes Vafaei-Sani’s courage and determination despite more than six years of imprisonment, reported torture, prolonged solitary confinement, and repeated death sentences.
Unable to attend the ceremony because he remains imprisoned in the high-security Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad, northeastern Iran, Vafaei-Sani sent a message expressing gratitude for the international recognition and reaffirming his commitment to freedom and democracy.
In one of the most powerful passages of his message, he declared: “The regime demands repentance, televised confessions and surrender from us. But our answer is clear: ‘We will never surrender; we will never submit to humiliation.’”
— Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign (@GMJCampaign) November 13, 2026
International Recognition for a Prisoner Facing Execution
The annual Magnitsky Human Rights Awards recognize individuals who have demonstrated exceptional courage in defending human rights and confronting repression.
The November 12 ceremony brought together prominent political figures, lawyers, journalists, and human rights defenders, including internationally renowned human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson, activist Bianca Jagger, Italian human rights advocate Antonio Stango, Lithuanian parliamentarian Emanuelis Zingeris, and International Bar Association executive director Mark Ellis.
Bob Blackman, a British MP and chairman of the British Committee for Iran Freedom, presented the award honoring Vafaei-Sani.
Blackman highlighted the Iranian athlete’s ordeal since his arrest in 2020 following the nationwide protests of November 2019. He condemned the use of executions as an instrument of political repression and called for international action to save Vafaei-Sani’s life.
Addressing the imprisoned champion, Blackman declared:
“You are not forgotten. You are not alone. The world is watching. Your death sentence must be overturned, and you must be freed.”
Mohammad Namdari accepted the award on behalf of Vafaei-Sani and his family, emphasizing that the recognition also highlighted the plight of other political prisoners facing execution in Iran.
🚨 @BobBlackman, presenting the 2026 Magnitsky Award for Outstanding Human Rights Activist to Iranian boxer Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani:
“Iran cannot expect normal relations with the UK or the free world while it continues to use executions as a means of repression.”@FCDOGovUK https://t.co/Hnhuo6LxzV pic.twitter.com/DNWorFHXQ1
— M. Hanif Jazayeri (@HanifJazayeri) November 13, 2026
“I Accept This Award in the Name of All Those Who Aspire to a Free Iran”
In his message from Vakilabad Prison, Vafaei-Sani described the extraordinary difficulties of communicating with the outside world.
“I am glad that the voice of your solidarity passes through the prison walls and reaches us,” he wrote.
He emphasized that the award was not merely a personal distinction but a tribute to those who have sacrificed for freedom.
“I accept this Magnitsky award in the name of all those who, for the ‘crime’ of aspiring to a free Iran, have been imprisoned, tortured, threatened, or sentenced to death; in the name of my comrades in the Resistance Units and the generation that is paying the price of freedom with their lives.”
Vafaei-Sani also recalled the 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran, many of them PMOI supporters, who were executed after refusing to abandon their convictions. His message cited an estimated 30,000 victims, a figure advanced by the Iranian opposition.
Drawing a parallel between their fate and his own, he wrote: “Today, I too have been sentenced to death for the same ‘crime’, because I refuse to renounce my dignity.”
🚨Breaking: Iranian boxer on death row receives 2026 Magnitsky Award
Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani, a 31-year-old political prisoner under a death sentence, was awarded the Magnitsky Award for Outstanding Human Rights Activist in London on Thursday.
British MP Bob Blackman… pic.twitter.com/4U6jIqECap— SIMAY AZADI TV (@en_simayazadi) November 13, 2026
A Boxing Champion Punished for His Political Convictions
Vafaei-Sani was a boxing champion and coach in Mashhad before his arrest in 2020 following the nationwide anti-government protests of November 2019.
Iranian authorities accused him of supporting the PMOI and convicted him of efsad-fil-arz, or “corruption on earth,” a capital offense under Iranian law.
His death sentence was overturned twice before a Revolutionary Court in Mashhad imposed it for a third time in September 2024. The Iranian regime’s Supreme Court subsequently upheld the sentence in October 2025.
His case has attracted international attention from human rights organizations, legal experts, and sports figures, who have raised concerns about his prosecution, treatment in detention, and risk of execution.
A message by Mohammad Javad Vafaei Sani from the death row in #Iran – “I accept the Magnitsky Award on behalf of the Resistance Units of Iran”. pic.twitter.com/18De6U3tPm
— Antonio Stango (@AntonioStango) November 12, 2026
A Vision of a Free and Democratic Iran
Vafaei-Sani used his message to outline his aspirations for Iran’s future, rejecting both the restoration of monarchy and the continuation of clerical rule.
Opposing foreign military intervention, he advocated democratic change led by the Iranian people through organized resistance.
“We want a free and democratic Iran; an Iran in which neither the Shah nor the Mullah rules, where the people vote freely, women and men are equal, there is no discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, religion or belief, and no one is imprisoned or executed for political opposition.”
He expressed support for the Ten-Point Plan of Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, which advocates free elections, separation of religion and state, gender equality, abolition of the death penalty, and a democratic republic.
Despite the continuing threat to his life, Vafaei-Sani reaffirmed his determination: “I remain steadfast in my pledge, and I will not bow before oppression until the people of Iran are free.”
“Bu ödülü, özgür bir İran istemek ‘suçundan’ hapsedilen, işkence gören, tehdit edilen veya idama mahkûm edilen herkes adına; direniş birimlerindeki mücadele arkadaşlarım ve özgürlüğün bedelini hayatlarıyla ödeyen bir nesil adına kabul ediyorum”
İran'da üç kez idama mahkûm edilen…
— Medyascope (@medyascope) November 13, 2026
A Message of Hope from Behind Prison Walls
Named after Sergei Magnitsky, the Russian lawyer who died in detention after exposing corruption, the Magnitsky Human Rights Awards celebrate individuals who stand against abuses of power.
For Vafaei-Sani, the recognition comes while his death sentence remains in force, underscoring the urgency of international efforts to secure his release.
Yet his message ended not with despair but with hope and an invitation to those gathered in London: “I thank you from the bottom of my heart for holding this ceremony, for presenting me with this award and, above all, for ensuring that Iran’s political prisoners are not forgotten. I hope that, in the near future, you will be able to visit a free Iran.”