The "Guardian" reported that Mohammad Javad Wafai Thani, a 31-year-old boxer and political prisoner sentenced to death in Iran, received the Magnitsky Prize in the category of outstanding human rights activists. In a statement from Vakil Abad prison in Mashhad, he said: "I stand by my promise and will not bow to oppression until the freedom of the Iranian people."
Vafai Thani, Iranian boxing champion, trainer and political prisoner, has been sentenced to death 3 times and is one of the seven athletes facing the risk of execution in Iran. He received the Magnitsky Award for outstanding human rights work at a ceremony in London on Thursday evening.
In a written message from Vakil Abad Prison in Mashhad, he said: "I accept this award on behalf of all those who were imprisoned, tortured, threatened or sentenced to death for the crime of wishing for a free Iran; on behalf of my friends and the generation who are paying the price of freedom with their lives. But the government wants us to surrender and television is an obvious answer. We will never surrender and we will never surrender to humiliation."
Vapai Thani, 31 years old, arrested for participating in the November 2018 protests.