The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has reported that the family of Nader (Shirdel) Jameh-Shourani, 39, were summoned to the Kermanshah Forensic Medicine Department on 29 November, where they were told he had died of a heart attack in Kermanshah Central Prison, also known as Dizel Abad Prison.
However, his family rejects the official explanation, noting that he had no history of illness and insisting that the circumstances of his death are suspicious.
Family members said that Jameh-Shourani had repeatedly clashed with prison guards in recent years and had been tortured on numerous occasions. They reported that he was injured several times as a result and required hospitalisation.
Jameh-Shourani, from Kermanshah, was arrested around two decades ago by Criminal Investigation Department officers on allegations of robbing a jewellery shop in Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province.
Despite denying any involvement, he was handed a lengthy prison sentence and ordered to pay restitution.
In recent years, numerous cases of prisoner deaths in Kermanshah and Orumiyeh prisons have been reported linked to denial of medical care and delays in transferring prisoners to outside medical facilities.
Although the populations of these prisons are several times their actual capacity, their infirmaries are not equipped to meet the needs of the detainees and are therefore unable to respond adequately.