Jailed Iranian footballer issues plea to international community

LONDON: Iranian footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani has pleaded for help from the international community after being handed a 26-year jail sentence for participating in protests.

Metro newspaper reported that in an audio message, a voice said to belong to Nasr-Azadani said: “Whoever you are in contact with, my friends, footballer friends, send this message to them so they know what conditions I am under. Hopefully, one day we can be together again. My hope is first of all with God and then the people outside.”

The former Persian Gulf Pro League player was arrested in November as authorities brutally cracked down on protests that have engulfed the country since the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody last September.

Nasr-Azadani was found guilty of “partaking in enmity against God” in relation to the death of three security guards during demonstrations on Nov. 16.

Despite a confession broadcast on TV, multiple reports suggested that this was coerced, and that he has subsequently denied any guilt in participating in the actions leading to the deaths of the security guards.

One witness told local media that while Nasr-Azadani had been spotted at the protests, and was seen chanting for a short while, he was nowhere near the area where the deaths took place.

Three other protesters were sentenced to death in the same trial, which human rights groups have called a “sham,” but Nasr-Azadani’s sentence was limited to a custodial one, of which he is expected to serve at least 16 years of the 26-year sentence.

In the audio clip obtained by CNN, Nasr-Azadani said: “I hope they continue to support me because all these harsh sentences that were issued to me, I really do not deserve. I really do not deserve. Me? 26 years? Is it