Sheikh Hasina authorized deadly crackdown on student protests, leak audio suggests

Dhaka: Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina purported approval of a lethal crackdown on student-led protests last year.

According to verified audio obtained by BBC Eye, Hasina instructed security forces to “use lethal weapons” and indicated that forces should “shoot” wherever protesters are found.

The recording has become a key piece of evidence in ongoing legal proceedings against Hasina, who is currently tried in absentia at a special tribunal for alleged crimes against humanity. Prosecutors in Bangladesh plan to present the audio as crucial proof in their case.

The protests, which erupted across Bangladesh last summer, resulted in the deaths of up to 1,400 people, according to United Nations investigators.

Hasina, who fled to India, her political party deny all charges, asserting that the allegations are politically motivated.

The protests began against civil service job quotas for relatives of those who fought in the 1971 war of independence and escalated into a mass movement that ousted Hasina, who had been in power for 15 years. It is the worst violence Bangladesh had seen since the 1971 war.

Some of the bloodiest scenes occurred on 5 August, the day Hasina fled by helicopter before crowds stormed her residence in Dhaka.