Former rapper Milan Jaff, who has been convicted of a string of offences including rape and attempted murder, plans to appeal against a decision by the Finnish Immigration Service Migri to deport him to his native Iraq.

Jaff initially appealed the deportation decision to the Helsinki Administrative Court at the beginning of this month, but then withdrew that appeal, with his legal counsel at the time telling tabloid Iltalehti that no reason was given for this change of mind.

However, in an email to Yle, Jaff’s newly-appointed legal counsel claimed that “new and significant evidence” has since come to light — adding that his client’s life would be in danger if he were to be deported to Iraq.

“As a state, Finland cannot deport individuals to countries where they are in grave danger of immediate attacks on their life and health or to arbitrary deprivation of liberty. Jaff is not only a convicted criminal but also an artist who, if deported, would be under threat because he has exercised his freedom of artistic and other expression, which is protected as a fundamental and human right,” the email read.

The email is signed by Anton von Schrowe, the name now used by convicted killer Antti Olavi Taskinen.

Taskinen was sentenced to life in prison in 2006 for the manslaughter of a 30-year-old man in Tampere in February 1997 as well as for the murder of a 54-year-old business manager at a villa in Heinola in November 2005.

He was also initially convicted of aggravated involuntary manslaughter over the death of a 20-year-old student in Tampere in August 1996, but this verdict was overturned on appeal.

Taskinen changed his name while in prison and began studying law at the University of Turku, eventually graduating with a Master of Laws degree in 2020. He was released in July 2023 on foot of an order by the Helsinki Court of Appeal.

Under Finnish law, the holder of a Master of Laws degree can act as legal counsel in administrative courts, but cannot represent clients in general law courts, such as district courts.

When asked by Yle if his convictions affect his work as legal counsel, Von Schrowe responded that he did not wish to comment on his past.

Gang member, rapper, criminal

Milan Jaff arrived in Finland from Iraq in 2017 and lived in the country on the basis of subsidiary international protection.

Jaff became known for his music videos and rapping on social media.

He has however committed a series of serious offences during his time in Finland, including attempted manslaughter, aggravated robbery and rape.

In a verdict handed down in 2022, Helsinki District Court said that Jaff was the leader of the Kurdish Mafia, a street gang operating in the capital area. He was given a 10-year prison sentence for attempted murder and other gang-related crimes. This sentence was shortened to six years and two months on appeal.

In 2023, the same court found Jaff guilty on one charge of rape and another charge of the aggravated rape of a 13-year-old child, sentencing him to two years and eight months in prison.

Last year, the Helsinki Court of Appeal overturned his conviction for aggravated rape of a child but upheld his conviction for rape of an adult woman.

Yle reported earlier this month that if Jaff returns to Iraq voluntarily, he is eligible to receive assistance from the Finnish state worth thousands of euros.