Kaveh Ahmadzadeh, a former political prisoner held in Bukan Prison on financial charges, has died after weeks of being refused access to proper medical treatment, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned.
An informed source confirmed the news to the KHRN and said: “This former political prisoner was transferred to Bukan Prison about six months ago to serve a sentence and pay a fine in a financial case. He contracted influenza several weeks ago and, despite his condition deteriorating, he was not given any medical care.”
According to the source, “Last week, as his health worsened, he was transferred to the prison infirmary, but officials only gave him painkillers and refused to send him to medical centres outside the prison. On Saturday, 6 December 2025, he was taken to the infirmary again due to the continued illness and physical weakness. They only gave IV fluids and returned him to the ward. The next day, 7 December, his cellmates discovered he had died during the morning headcount.”
The source added: “His family has still not been formally informed of the cause of death, but on Monday, 7 December, during a visit to the prison by Fathi, the Director General of West Azerbaijan Province Prisons, his cellmates stated that the denial of access to medical services caused his death.”
Ahmadzadeh, a father of one from Bukan, had previously spent a total of around six years in prison on political charges in the 1980s.
He was also detained twice, in 2008 and 2013, on accusations of “acting against national security” through alleged membership in the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), serving two three-year sentences in Bukan Prison.
