DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran, which has a history of broadcasting suspected forced confessions, aired a statement by a wrestler who faces the death penalty. The segment came shortly after President Donald Trump criticized the case in a tweet. The segment and authorities accuse Navid Afkari, 27, of stabbing a water supply company employee amid demonstrations in 2018. Afkari's case has generated the attention of a social media campaign that portrays him and his brothers as victims targeted over participating in protests against Iran’s Shiite theocracy. Afkari had local fame as a wrestler, a popular sport in Iran. His case has revived a demand inside the country that Iran stop carrying out the death penalty.
AP
FILE - In this June 25, 2018 file photo, a group of protesters chant slogans at the main gate of the Old Grand Bazaar, in Tehran, Iran. On Saturday, Sept. 5, 2020, Iran broadcast the televised confession of a wrestler facing the death penalty after a tweet from President Donald Trump criticizing the case, a segment that resembled hundreds of other suspected coerced confessions aired over the last decade in the Islamic Republic. The case of 27-year-old Navid Afkari has drawn the attention of a social media campaign that portrays him and his brothers as victims targeted over participating in protests against Iran's Shiite theocracy in 2018. (Iranian Labor News Agency via AP, File)
Posted at 2:50 PM, Sep 06, 2020
and last updated 2020-09-06 15:51:52-04
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