Leaked audio, verified by BBC Eye, suggests that former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina personally authorized a deadly crackdown on student-led protests last year.
In the recording of one of her phone calls, leaked online in March, Hasina is heard instructing security forces to “use lethal weapons” and to “shoot wherever they find [them]” in reference to anti-government demonstrators, the BBC reported on Wednesday.
Prosecutors plan to use the recording as key evidence against Hasina, who is being tried in absentia at the International Crimes Tribunal.
According to UN investigators, the unrest last summer claimed as many as 1,400 lives.
Hasina, who has since fled to India, denies all allegations, as does her political party, the Awami League.
A party spokesperson said the recording did not reflect any “unlawful intention” or “disproportionate response.”
The July 18 phone call, said to have taken place while Hasina was at her official residence, Ganabhaban in Dhaka – as a source with knowledge of the leaked audio told the BBC – occurred at a critical point during the mass protests, which escalated from opposition to civil service quotas into a broader movement that ultimately led to her ouster after 15 years in power.
The leaked audio of Hasina's conversation with an unidentified senior government official stands as the strongest evidence so far that she directly authorized the use of lethal force against anti-government protesters.
The protests initially erupted over civil service job quotas reserved for descendants of those who had fought in the 1971 Liberation War, eventually growing into a mass uprising that led to the ousting of Hasina.
Some of the deadliest incidents unfolded on August 5, the day Hasina fled by helicopter just before protestors stormed her residence in Dhaka.
A BBC World Service investigation uncovered previously unreported details of a police-led massacre of demonstrators in the capital, including a significantly higher death toll than previously acknowledged.
Crucial moment
Hasina’s phone call was a crucial moment in the demonstrations, according to the BBC.
Security forces were facing mounting public fury over protester deaths at the hands of police—killings that had been captured on video and widely shared on social media.
In the days following the call, military-grade rifles were deployed and used across Dhaka, as indicated in police records reviewed by the BBC.
The call reviewed by the BBC was among several conversations involving Hasina that were intercepted by the National Telecommunications Monitoring Centre (NTMC), the Bangladeshi government agency responsible for surveillance of communications.
The call reviewed by the BBC is one of numerous involving Hasina that were made by the National Telecommunications Monitoring Centre (NTMC), a government body responsible for monitoring communications.
The audio, leaked online in early March this year, has not been attributed to any specific source.
Since the protests, multiple recordings of alleged calls involving Hasina have surfaced online, though many remain unverified.
Audio analysis
The leaked recording from July 18 was voice-matched by the Criminal Investigation Department of the Bangladesh Police with verified samples of Hasina’s voice.
The BBC also carried out an independent analysis, submitting the clip to audio forensics specialist Earshot.
It concluded there was no indication the recording had been altered or manipulated and said it was highly improbable that it had been synthetically generated.
Earshot determined that the recording had likely been captured in a room where the call had been played aloud over a speaker, based on distinct telephonic frequencies and ambient background noise.
It also identified Electric Network Frequency (ENF) interference, a common signal in recordings involving mains-powered devices, suggesting the audio was genuine and unedited.
In addition, Earshot analyzed the characteristics of Hasina’s voice in the recording, including rhythm, intonation and breathing patterns, and noted consistent noise floor levels, finding no signs of synthetic artefacts.
"The recordings are critical for establishing her role, they are clear and have been properly authenticated and are supported by other evidence," British international human rights barrister Toby Cadman told the BBC.
He is advising the International Criminal Tribunal (ICT), the court hearing cases against Hasina and others.
Meanwhile, an Awami League spokesperson said: "We cannot confirm whether the tape recording referenced by the BBC is authentic."
In addition to Hasina, several former police and government officials have also been implicated in the protester deaths.
A total of 203 people have been indicted by the ICT, 73 of whom are currently in custody.
BBC Eye reviewed and authenticated hundreds of videos, photographs and documents outlining police violence against demonstrators over a 36-day period.
The investigation found that in one incident on August 5 in Jatrabari, police killed at least 52 people, making it one of the deadliest instances of police violence in the country's history.
Initial reports at the time had placed the death toll at 30.
The BBC’s reporting shed new light on how the massacre unfolded.
By compiling eyewitness video, CCTV footage and drone imagery, BBC Eye determined that police began firing indiscriminately at protesters immediately after army troops, who had been positioned between the police and the crowd, withdrew from the area.
For more than 30 minutes, police opened fire on demonstrators attempting to flee through alleyways and along the highway, until officers retreated to a nearby army camp, the BBC reports.
Hours later, in retaliation, protesters set fire to Jatrabari police station, and at least six officers were killed.
A spokesperson for the Bangladesh Police told the BBC that 60 officers had been arrested in connection with the violence during July and August last year.
"There were regrettable incidents in which certain members of the then police force engaged in excessive use of force," said the spokesperson. "Bangladesh Police has launched thorough and impartial investigations."
Sheikh Hasina’s trial began last month. She faces charges of crimes against humanity, including allegations of ordering mass killings, inciting violence, conspiring and failing to prevent widespread civilian deaths.
India has not yet responded to Bangladesh’s formal request for her extradition.
Cadman said Hasina was unlikely to return to face trial.
The Awami League continues to deny that any of its senior figures are responsible for the use of force against protesters.
"The Awami League categorically denies and rejects claims that some of its senior leaders, including the prime minister herself, were personally responsible for or directed the use of lethal force against crowds," a spokesperson for the party said.
"The decisions made by senior government officials were proportionate in nature, made in good faith and intended to minimize the loss of life."
The party has also dismissed findings by United Nations investigators who concluded that there were reasonable grounds to believe that Hasina and her government might have committed crimes against humanity.
The BBC contacted the Bangladesh Army for comment but did not receive a response.
