Navid Afkari Sangari was an Iranian wrestling champion who was sentenced to death and executed after having been accused and convicted of murdering a security guard during the 2018 Iranian protests that caused more than 1500 civilians to die at the hand of Iran's regime forces.

Afkari had filed a complaint with the Iranian judiciary, and stated in an audiotape recording that was smuggled from prison, that his initial confession had been obtained under torture; the Iranian judiciary denied the torture claims, and Iranian state media broadcast a recording of the confession.

There had been worldwide calls for Afkari's pardon, including by International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, and by then U.S. President. Afkari's brothers Vahid and Habib were sentenced to 54 and 27 years, respectively, in prison in the same case.

Listen to the shocking words of #Navid Afkari regarding his death sentence… If I'm executed you should know...

In Farsi, Navid means “The Promise”,