Kurdish death-row prisoner Nosrat Khaledi dies following medical neglect in Urmia Prison

Hengaw – Sunday, August 9, 2026

Nosrat Khaledi, a Kurdish prisoner from Urmia who was sentenced to death and held in Urmia Central Prison, has died following a heart attack after prison authorities failed to provide timely medical care. He had also been under severe psychological pressure due to his death sentence.

According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Khaledi was transferred to Seyed al-Shohada Hospital in Urmia on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, after suffering severe heart pain for three days. His transfer came only after repeated appeals by his family and fellow prisoners. He died just 10 minutes after arriving at the hospital.

Khaledi, from Sanji village in Urmia County, was married and the father of five daughters, including one with a severe physical and mobility disability.

Informed sources said Khaledi had previously been arrested on charges related to “drug offenses” and sentenced to death by the Iranian judiciary. Over the past year, he had been under severe psychological pressure and stress due to the sentence and the possibility of its execution.

According to relatives of the Khaledi family, he suffered severe heart pain for three consecutive days, but officials at Urmia Prison refused to transfer him to a medical facility outside the prison. He was eventually taken to the hospital on July 28 in critical condition and died following the deliberate delay in providing urgent medical care.

The deliberate denial of medical care to prisoners and failure to promptly transfer those facing life-threatening medical emergencies constitute a clear violation of the right to life and of Article 6, concerning the right to life, and Article 10, concerning humane treatment and respect for the dignity of prisoners, of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.