UFC president Dana White pleads online to the Iranian government for the sparing of champion wrestler’s life.
According to the BBC, the 27-year-old Navid Afkari was sentenced to death by the Iranian government. This was following Afkari being “handed two death sentences over the murder of a security guard during protests in Shiraz” two years ago. However, Afkari’s family claims that torture was used to extract the confession. Human rights activists insist that Afkari was peacefully protesting and demand that the execution should not take place.
The President of the United States, Donald Trump Jr., urged online for the Iranian government to spare Afkari’s life. Trump tagged his close friend White in the post.
Hearing that Iran is looking to execute a great and popular wrestling star, 27-year-old Navid Afkarai, whose sole act was an anti-government demonstration on the streets. They were protesting the “country’s worsening economic situation and inflation”…
…To the leaders of Iran, I would greatly appreciate if you would spare this young man’s life, and not execute him. Thank you! @UFC @DanaWhite @FoxNews
After seeing Trump’s tweets, White took to Instagram to support the plea for Afkari’s life.
“Hey everybody I’m UFC president Dana White. This week, the New York Times wrote a story about a very famous wrestler from Iran. His name is Navid Afkari. He went to a peaceful protest in Iran and he’s going to be executed for that. It was brought to my attention — first of all, this guy is a human being, number two he’s one of us, he could be one of my fighters.”
“The only thing I thought to do was call the President and see what he can do to help this man. And he said, ‘Let us look into it, let me talk to my administration and see if there’s something we can do to save this man’s life.’ So today the president tweeted the tweet that is attached to this video. I would just like to say that I, too, respectfully and humbly ask the government officials in Iran to please not execute this man and spare his life,” Dana White said in his statement.
Do you think Dana White and Donald Trump will be successful in their attempts to save Navid Afkari?