IOC shocked and saddened by execution of Iranian wrestler Navid Afkari

September 12, 2020 Article

The International Olympic Committee has described reports confirming the execution of Iranian wrestler Navid Afkari as “deeply upsetting” amid mounting calls for sporting sanctions.

Iranian state media said on Saturday that Afkari, a national champion who was sentenced to death over the murder of a security guard during 2018 anti-government protests, had been executed.

Afkari’s death comes despite the attempted intervention of the IOC and the sport’s world governing body, United World Wrestling, with IOC president Thomas Bach having said on Wednesday that he was trying to “facilitate a solution”.

In a statement the IOC said: “The execution of wrestler Navid Afkari in Iran is very sad news. The IOC is shocked by this announcement today.

“In letters, Thomas Bach, the IOC president, had made direct personal appeals to the Supreme Leader and to the President of Iran this week and asked for mercy for Navid Afkari, while respecting the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

“It is deeply upsetting that the pleas of athletes from around the world and all the behind-the-scenes work of the IOC, together with the NOC of Iran, United World Wrestling and the National Iranian Wrestling Federation, did not achieve our goal.

“Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Navid Afkari.”

Last week Brendan Schwab, the executive director of the World Players Association, had insisted that, in executing Afkari, Iran would be “forfeiting its right to be a part of sport’s universal community”.

Schwab tweeted on Saturday: “@WorldPlayersUtd are aware of credible & heartbreaking reports that #NavidAfkari was executed despite the work of so many courageous champions of human rights in sport. We are seeking formal confirmation. If true, we are determined to ensure Navid did not lose his life in vain.”

Meanwhile the president of the World Olympians Association, Joel Bouzou, said his organisation was “gravely upset” that efforts to spare Afkari’s life had proved unsuccessful.

Bouzou said: “On behalf of the global Olympian community WOA today expresses its profound shock and sadness at the execution of Iranian wrestler Navid Afkari

“WOA stood with the IOC and President Thomas Bach OLY in their appeals for mercy and are gravely upset that their combined efforts were not successful.”

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Categories: International Olympic Committee, Iranian State Media, Iranian Wrestler, National champion, Navid Afkari, News

Charlottesville removes Confederate statue near rally site

September 12, 2020 Article

A crowd cheered as workers in Charlottesville removed a Confederate statue near the site of a violent white nationalist rally three years ago.

The removal of a bronze figure of a Confederate soldier known as “At Ready” is seen in Charlottesville as a milestone in eliminating divisive symbols of the Civil War.

The Washington Post reported that the process of removing the statue began on Saturday morning as workers affixed straps to the 900-pound statute to prepare to remove it from its base.

A crowd of about 100 people cheered behind metal barricades as the figure was lifted from its pedestal and lowered to the ground.

The statue has been outside the Albermarle County courthouse for 111 years.

Members of the crowd all wore masks amid the coronavirus pandemic. Some wore blue Union Civil War caps and danced to music broadcast by a local radio station.

The cheerful scene was in stark contrast to the violence at the Unite The Right rally on August 12, 2017.

One woman was killed and dozens were injured when a self-avowed white supremacist drove his car into a crowd of people protesting over the white nationalist gathering.

“This is a magnificent moment,” said local community organiser Don Gathers. “Much of the racial tension, strife and protest we’re seeing across the country emanates from right here in Charlottesville. But now we’re moving the needle in a positive way.”

Albemarle County supervisors voted earlier this summer to take down the statute, which is located within the city of Charlottesville.

The statue was not the focal point of the 2017 rally, but it is a block away from the statue of Confederate Gen Robert E Lee that white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups said they were defending in the clash.

Charlottesville’s city council has voted to remove both Lee and a nearby monument to fellow Gen Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, but a small group of Confederate supporters filed a lawsuit to save them.

The case is headed to the Supreme Court of Virginia and could take months to be resolved.

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Categories: Charlottesville, Civil war, Confederate statue, News, Robert E. Lee, White Supremacist