Fri 25 November 2022:
Voria Ghafouri, one of the most outspoken supporters of hijab rallies in Iran, was detained by the Tehran police for allegedly spreading disinformation against the Islamic government.
Former national team player Ghafouri, who had played 28 times for Iran up to 2019, was detained during a training session at his club, Foolad Khuzestan, according to the Fars new agency. He was accused of “tarnished the reputation of the national team and spread propaganda against the state”,
His arrest occurs in the wake of the Iranian football team’s recent World Cup game in Qatar, showing defiance against the regime.
The team did not sing the national anthem at their first match against England on Monday, inviting scrutiny from the officials.
According to reports, the 35-year-old footballer will most likely be charged with “insulting and intending to destroy the national football team and speaking against the regime”.
One of the outspoken critics of the crackdown against the protesters, the footballer has been urging the government to stop killing Kurdish people.
“Stop killing Kurdish people!!! Kurds are Iran itself … Killing Kurds is equal to killing Iran. If you are indifferent to the killing of people, you are not an Iranian and you are not even a human being … All tribes are from Iran. Do not kill people!!!,” he recently tweeted.
The wave of protests that has rocked the country for more than a month was sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman.
Ghafouri has been on the radar of the regime for expressing support for the protesters, prompting the ministers to accuse him of being a Kurdish separatist.
But he has steadfastly defended his nationalist views, saying that he would die for Iran.
In a subtle reference to Ghafouri earlier this year, the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei observed, “Some people, who benefit from the country’s peace and security, enjoying their jobs and their favourite sports, bite the hand that feeds them.”
Ghafouri comes from Sanandaj, a city in western Iran with a significant Kurdish population. He is regarded as a cult hero across the country.
He just shared a picture of himself in traditional Kurdish garb in Kurdistan’s mountains on Instagram.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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