A deadly crackdown on student-led protests in Bangladesh last year was authorised by the then prime minister Sheikh Hasina, according to audio of one of her phone calls verified by BBC Eye, a BBC’s documentary series offering high-impact investigations.
In the audio, which was leaked online in March, Hasina says she authorised her security forces to “use lethal weapons” against protesters and that “wherever they find [them], they will shoot”.
On July 2, 2025, the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1 convicted and sentenced ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina to six months in jail in a contempt of court case.
Prosecutors in Bangladesh plan to use the recording as crucial evidence against Hasina, who is being tried in absentia at a special tribunal for crimes against humanity, BBC reports.
The ICT has already taken the issue of Hasina’s phone call into its account and will deliver its order in this regard tomorrow.
Up to 1,400 people died in the unrest, according to UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Hasina fled to India on August 5 last year.বিস্তারিত