ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdish rapper Milan Jaff, who was convicted of multiple serious crimes in Finland, said he is prepared to return to Finland to face court proceedings after authorities reopened a case against him, which he claims is politically motivated.
According to Helsingin Sanomat, Jaff was an indictment was filed in the Helsinki District Court on May 21 for allegedly raping a child in July 2019.
In an interview with Rudaw on Monday, Milan Jaff claimed that the legal actions against him in Finland are politically motivated, arguing that his case has been "unjustly" reopened by authorities and media as part of an anti-refugee agenda. He said he is committed to his career as an artist and content creator, promoting the safety and beauty of the Kurdistan Region to his European followers in hopes of attracting more international visitors and government support.
Jaff was previously identified as the leader of a notorious criminal group and has faced charges of violence and drug-related offenses. In 2022, the Helsinki District Court sentenced him to 10 years in prison after a charge of attempted murder.
According to Finnish state-owned media outlet Yle, in 2023, the same court found Jaff guilty of one count of rape and one count of the aggravated rape of a 13-year-old child, sentencing him to two years and eight months in prison. In 2024, the court overturned his conviction for aggravated rape of a child but upheld his conviction for rape of an adult woman, according to Yle.
Jaff asserts that he is innocent, denies the validity of the charges, and says he is ready to return to Finland to defend himself in court.
In January, Jaff told Rudaw in an interview that he served prison sentences in Finland and was later deported after authorities revoked his residency, though he said legal challenges related to his case remain ongoing. He said he returned to the Kurdistan Region voluntarily in 2025.
The following is the full interview script:
Rudaw: What are the charges brought against you in the Finnish court?
Milan Jaf: The matter is not what has been blown up in the media. The truth is that the right-wing, who are now in power, have politicized my case and linked every incident that occurs to refugees. That case is seven years old and does not merit reopening.
Why has the case been reopened?
I was in Finland until 2025, and nothing was said to me. I formally requested to return to Kurdistan myself and had no problems. Now, some Finnish journalists want to exploit the case for viewers, because whenever my name is mentioned, it becomes a trending topic.
Are you ready to go to court?
Yes, I am ready. I have no problem. I make videos and vlogs every day, talking about the beauty of Kurdistan. They know where I am. Through my lawyer, I have requested copies of the case files to understand what the case is about, and I am also prepared to return to Finland for the court hearing. I have no problem with that.
Have your videos and vlogs from Kurdistan encouraged people from Finland to come here?
Yes, several people have come to Kurdistan from Finland because of my videos. One of them is a journalist named Martin, who came to Kurdistan because of my videos. Finns have always assumed that whenever Kurdistan or Iraq is mentioned, it means war and chaos, but when they saw my videos, they realized it was different, because the calm that exists in Kurdistan does not exist in Finland. That misconception also comes from the media only ever covering wars and problems here.
Now, when Finns see my videos, they are amazed by the region. They tell me: ‘Your country is so beautiful, why did you come to Finland?’ My journalist friend Martin, when I took him to the dollar market, and he saw the cash, he was astonished. He said how can all this money be here in cash without being stolen? In a European country, gangs would come and rob the market. But I told him: here things are calm. The security here doesn't exist anywhere else, because most of the population is Muslim and culturally observant, so wrongdoing happens less here.
Do you consider the reopening of your case to be unjust?
Yes, my case has been unjustly reopened. Finnish media have not given me the opportunity to discuss the facts because most of them are anti-refugee.
You were charged in Finland but were never given the opportunity to refute the charges?
No, I was never given any opportunity. The case is new. No details have been given to me. I have now asked my lawyer to go to court and obtain the case files. My lawyer says the case amounts to nothing. I also know Finnish law very well. They have no evidence against me and cannot convict me, but politicians are using my case for their own purposes. If there were a problem, why did they not move on the cases in the past seven years?
You had an artistic career in Finland with a large audience?
I have many fans in Finland. Many people follow my videos and vlogs. A Finnish lawmaker even commented on the videos I made here in Kurdistan, asking: ‘Kurdistan is so beautiful. Why do people emigrate from Kurdistan? Why should we accept their refugees?’ Now that I have released a song, I have a large viewership. Now that I want to release another song, they want to break me and stop people from following my content. Beyond that, I currently have a project to bring well-known Finnish and European personalities to Kurdistan, to bring people who are famous on social media to Kurdistan to make videos and vlogs. If the Kurdistan Regional Government supports me, we can do great work to promote Kurdistan and let people in Europe know how beautiful and peaceful a place it is.
Our country has all four seasons. The Scandinavian countries are not like that. So when my friends come from Finland to Kurdistan, I take them to different areas. Some of my friends enjoy visiting Garmiyan, so I took them to Darbandikhan, Dukan, and Sulaimani.
Will the reopening of your case cause you to stop your work?
No, I will continue with my art and promoting Kurdistan to foreign audiences. I want the government to sponsor my work and help bring well-known personalities from Finland and Europe to Kurdistan.
