Iranian Wrestler Mehdi Ali Hosseini Sentenced To Death In Iran
Iran is back to executing athletes. This time, Mehdi Ali Hosseini has been sentenced to death for a murder during a group brawl. Hosseini was arrested in 2015. Last September, we covered the arrest, forced confession and subsequent murder of Navid Afkari for protesting regime corruption.
Mehdi Ali Hosseini is from Andimeshk in the Khuzestan providence. According to family members of Ali Hosseini, the execution is imminent. He is 29 years old and the victims of the murdered has refused a pardon, sending the athlete away for execution. Details about the crime is sparse, but Iran’s history doesn’t do them any favors.
While details on the crime are sparse at the time of this writing, the amount of people speaking out for Ali Hosseini is alarming. My MMA News will keep this post updated with the latest news on Ali Hosseini as it rolls in.
UPDATE: In 2015, Mehdi Ali Hosseini was arrested in the murder of someone during a gang brawl. The story says he allegedly did the crime, and many athletes believe that but are also crying out for leniency for the athlete citing the barbarism of the Iranian regime in the past. While Hosseini’s crimes are being written about, My MMA News does not categorize Mr. Hosseini’s seemingly imminent murder as the same Navid Afkari and Reza Tabrizi. Regardless, we call for the Iranian government to show mercy.
Athletes Speak out for Mehdi Ali Hosseini
Iranian athletes have spoken up for their comrade and taken to social media and news outlets to call out to the government to cease the senseless killings. Hamid Sourian won a gold medal in Greco-Roman wrestling at the 2012 London Olympics for Iran. He is also the vice-president for the Iranian Wrestling Federation and called to stop the killing saying, “I beg Dr. Gholami Gheibi, who is one of the prominent doctors in Dezful, as the father of the victim, to please God.” He continues, “I hope the honorable family of the unseen will forgive this young man by doing this good deed.”
Habibollah Akhlaghi, an Iranian wrestler who has placed bronze at the World Championships in 2009 and 2015, is also from Khuzestan, where Mehdi Ali Hosseini is from. He said, “When I started wrestling, Mehdi Ali Hosseini wrestled with my younger brother in the same age group and he is really a good and moral wrestler.”
Other athletes speaking out for Ali Hosseini are Ali Ashkani, Saeid Abdoli, and Mohammad Talaei.
Pressure on the IOC
Cameron Khansarinia, Policy Director for the National Union for Democracy, called on the IOC to take action on Iran for the killing of it’s athletes. “The International Olympic Committee has as yet refused to take any serious actions against the regime in Tehran for its bloody assult against athletes, despite a coordinated campaign by Iranian athletic champions. The Regime should be banned from all Olympic and international sports activities until it stops murdering athletes and lifts its gender apartheid laws towards female athletes and fans. The disregard of Iranians shown by international organizations, including the IOC, has removed any and all of their legitimacy as humanitarian bodies.”
Similar cries were called out when the aforementioned Navid Afkari was sentenced to death and the pleas were met wit deaf ears by the IOC.
In November, Reza Tabrizi, a paralympin was arrested by the government for speaking out against the countries COVID-19 protocols. September, we saw Afkari. These are just the latest executions and crimes against humanity perpetrated by Iran and My MMA News is working on a story from the past to shed more light on the Iranian regieme.
Please read the previous cases on Iran with the killings of their past athletes below:
- Navid Afkari Sentenced to Two Death Sentences for Fake Crimes, White/Trump Step In
- Navid Afkari Executed this Morning by Iranian Government
- Paralympian Reza Tabrizi Faces Death Penalty For Alleged Crimes in Iran
- Reza Tabrizi Instagram Account Seized By Iranian Government, Screenshots From His Now-Private Profile
Stay posted to My MMA News for more information on this ongoing story.
