🔶 The Magnitsky Award "Outstanding Human Rights Activist" was awarded to a protester sentenced to death in Iran.
Mohammad Javad Wafai Thani won the Magnitsky Prize for 2026 in the "Outstanding Human Rights Activist" category.
He is an Iranian martial arts and boxing champion and trainer who is awaiting execution for his participation in anti-government interceptions in November 2018 and support for political opponents.
The judges of the Magnitsky Prize wrote in the explanation of the reasons for awarding the prize Lufai Thani who is an Iranian boxing champion and coach and a political prisoner whose case became a symbol of the suppression of peaceful protest and the violation of basic human rights in Iran.
Wafai Thani, who was born in Mashhad, was arrested in March of that year for participating in anti-government interceptions nationwide in November 2018.
In the first stage of the trial he was sentenced to death by the revolutionary court of Mashhad on the charge of "corruption of the country through deliberate destruction". This sentence was violated in the Supreme Court and the case was transferred to the Hamrad branch for re-examination. International human rights organizations described the judicial process in his case as extremely unfair and lacking fair trial standards.