Makwan Amirkhani has supported the protests in Iran since the death of Jina Mahsa Amin.
Makwan Amirkhani has not been able to keep quiet. In recent months, thoughts have been swirling in his country of birth, Iran.
A wave of protests started in the country when the 22-year-old Jina Mahsa Amini died at the hands of the chastity police shortly after being arrested.
The demonstrations have been described as Iran’s largest in the entire 2000s. Throughout the fall and winter, Iranian security forces have killed hundreds of protesters.
In addition, death sentences have been handed down to prisoners.
– It’s sick, absurd. The things I hear from there are only a fraction of what happened. And I probably hear more than many others here in Finland.
He is especially concerned about the horrors experienced by women.
– We have acquaintances and relatives in Iran who hear stories from their own circles. Young women are arrested and horrible things are done to you. When the girls’ mothers complain, they suffer the same fate, he horrifies.
Makwan Amirkhani has carried a flag in the UFC arenas, one side of which is in the colors of Kurdistan. PDO
Amirkhani’s family moved from Iran to Finland in 1993, when he himself was five years old.
The family is of Kurdish background, as was Amini. The demonstrations have focused specifically on the Kurdish areas, and there the Iranian regime has targeted its atrocities on the country’s large minority group.
Responsibility
Amirkhani published his first statement on his Instagram at the end of September. The picture was of the protests after Amin’s death. In the caption, he only wrote “Jina Amini”, which was the Kurdish name of the dead woman.
– At first, my own social media content was filled with updates from Iranians. I wondered if I could handle that amount of nasty things, but then I just couldn’t keep quiet. By being quiet, I would have acted as the administration wants.
– I have to bear my responsibility. Those people are suffering there.
Amirkhan is followed by a very large Kurdish community, for whom the UFC fighter is a hero. In his matches, Amirkhani carries a flag with one side in the colors of Finland and the other in the colors of Kurdistan.
There is no end in sight to Iran’s protests.
– Ending them would only mean that all those apprehended and subsequently identified would be executed.
“We can never go there”
The death of Mahsa Amin and the turmoil in Iran has shocked the whole world. PDO
The chastity police justified Amin’s arrest with an “improperly worn hijab”.
Islamic Sharia law states that a woman must cover her hair and the rest of her body. Under the guise of Sharia law, the Iranian regime has also imposed death sentences on protesters.
– Of course, I speak as a Kurd for the Kurds, but it’s not just about the Kurds. The protesters want out of sharia law, the old Iran back.
– Because of Sharia law, me and my whole family are here in Finland. We can never go back there.
Amirkhani hopes that more information about the chaotic situation in Iran would spread in Europe.
Some of the Iranian men’s national football team supported the Amini protests before and after the Games.
– Still, Iran’s football defeat was celebrated the most in the country, because then the country’s leadership could not use football as a propaganda tool, Amirkhani reminds.
Makwan Amirkhani arrived in Finland with his family in the early 1990s. Roni Lehti