On Monday Iran carried out the execution, via hanging, of national-level wrestler Mehdi Ali Hosseini. The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) reported that Hosseini, who was from Andimeshk, was executed in Dezful prison. He was 30 years old.
Authorities charged Hosseini with murder in 2015, saying he killed someone during a mass brawl. Hosseini’s death sentence was upheld because the victim’s family declined the opportunity to grant him clemency.
Iranian wrestling hero Hamid Sourian, an Olympic, World and Asian Championship gold medallist, had petitioned the family to show mercy to Hosseini.
Hosseini’s death comes a few months after Iran executed Navid Afkari, a wrestler who represented Iran’s national team.