Al Jazeera investigation: Hasina, in call with Taposh, talks using helicopter to shoot, crush protesters in July uprising
According to another leaked audio, verified by Al Jazeera, Sheikh Hasina “gave an open order” to “use lethal weapons” on the protesters last year, instructing security forces to shoot “wherever they find them”
In a leaked phone conversation verified by Al Jazeera, ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina is allegedly heard instructing former Dhaka South mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh to take harsh measures against protesters, including the possible use of helicopters to control demonstrations during the 2024 July uprising.
The audio captures Hasina instructing the former Dhaka South mayor, saying, "Wherever they notice any gathering, it's from above – now it's being done from above – it has already started in several places. It has begun. Some [protesters] have moved."
According to another leaked audio, verified by Al Jazeera, Sheikh Hasina "gave an open order" to "use lethal weapons" on the protesters last year, instructing security forces to shoot "wherever they find them".
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"My instructions have already been given. I've issued an open order completely. Now they will use lethal weapons, shoot wherever they find them," Hasina is heard saying to an ally in the audio recorded on 18 July by the National Telecommunications Monitoring Centre (NTMC).
"That has been instructed. I have stopped them so far … I was thinking about the students' safety," said the ousted prime minister. At the time, Bangladeshi security forces denied allegations of firing on protesters from the air.
However, Al Jazeera quoted Shabir Sharif, an accident and emergency doctor at Popular Medical College Hospital in Dhaka, who told the Investigative Unit that shots were fired from a helicopter "targeting our hospital entrance."
He added that doctors treated student protesters with "unusual bullet wounds".
"The bullets entered either the shoulder or the chest, and they all remained inside the body. We were receiving more of these types of patients at that time. When we looked at the X-rays, we were surprised because there were huge bullets," the doctor told Al Jazeera.
The Al Jazeera said it has not been able to verify what type of bullets were used.
The call recordings could be submitted by prosecutors as evidence before the International Crimes Tribunal, which has charged Hasina, her ministers, and security officials with crimes against humanity.
Tajul Islam, chief prosecutor of the ICT, said the former prime minister knew she was being recorded.
"In some cases, the other side [would say we] … 'should not discuss this over telephone'. And the reply was from the prime minister, 'Yes, I know, I know, I know, I know, it is being recorded, no problem'," Tajul was quoted by Al Jazeera as saying.
The chief prosecutor further said, "She has dug a very deep ditch for others. Now she's in the ditch."
Earlier this month, the BBC verified a leaked audio of Sheikh Hasina authorising the use of lethal force against student-led protesters during last year's mass uprising in Bangladesh.
The uprising, which began as a protest against a civil service quota favouring descendants of 1971 war veterans, quickly escalated into a nationwide movement that ended Hasina's 15-year rule.
On 5 August, the day she fled by helicopter, protesters stormed her residence, prompting some of the bloodiest clashes of the crisis.
