Al Jazeera reveals Hasina’s ‘shoot them’ order during 2024 unrest

A leaked audio recording obtained and verified by Qatar-based news outlet Al Jazeera reveals that Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gave explicit orders to security forces to use lethal weapons against student protesters during last year’s nationwide demonstrations.

The report, published on Thursday, exposes Sheikh Hasina’s secret directive to shoot protesters wherever they were found.

The leaked call recordings, captured by Bangladesh’s National Telecommunications Monitoring Centre (NTMC), were subjected to forensic analysis by Al Jazeera’s investigative unit, which confirmed their authenticity and ruled out manipulation through artificial intelligence.

In one call dated July 18 last year, Sheikh Hasina is heard telling an associate that she had authorized security forces to employ lethal weapons openly to suppress the protests.

“My instructions have already been given. I’ve issued an open order completely. Now they will use lethal weapons, shoot wherever they find them,” she said.. “That has been instructed. I have stopped them so far … I was thinking about the students’ safety.”

The demonstrations had erupted over the government’s plan to reduce special quota privileges for freedom fighters’ families in public sector jobs, a move opposed by many students.

The protests escalated into weeks of violent clashes, resulting in nearly 1,400 deaths and more than 20,000 injuries, according to International Crimes Tribunal (ICT). On August 5, under mounting pressure, Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled to India.

Al Jazeera’s report also includes details from another conversation where Sheikh Hasina discusses deploying helicopters to control protests, indicating that aerial operations had already begun at multiple locations.

While Bangladesh’s security forces have denied using gunfire from helicopters, medical staff at Dhaka’s Popular Medical College Hospital told Al Jazeera that shots were fired at the hospital entrance from a helicopter.

Emergency doctors reported unusual bullet wounds on injured students, with many bullets lodged deep in their bodies, reinforcing allegations of excessive force.

International criminal prosecutors are considering these leaked phone calls as evidence in a case accusing Sheikh Hasina, several ministers and security officials of crimes against humanity. On July 10, formal charges were filed and the trial is scheduled to begin next month.

NTMC, which recorded the calls, has also been accused of shrivelling not only opposition figures but even allies of Sheikh Hasina’s party.

The chief prosecutor of International Crimes Tribunal, Tajul Islam, revealed that Sheikh Hasina was aware her conversations were being recorded and once responded to warnings by saying, “Yes, I know, I know, it’s being recorded. No problem.”

Additional leaked recordings capture Sheikh Hasina’s finance adviser pressuring police officials over the delayed autopsy report of Abu Sayeed, a student killed by police gunfire in Rangpur in mid-July, an event that intensified the protests nationwide.

Medical staff have testified that police coerced them into altering the autopsy report to hide gunshot wounds, falsely attributing Sayeed’s death to injuries from thrown stones.

Families of victims were reportedly pressured to attend an event at Prime Minister’s official residence, Ganabhaban, where Sheikh Hasina handed out financial aid.

However, relatives expressed their distrust and dissatisfaction, Abu Sayeed’s sister stating, “The video shows the police fired shots. What investigation is there? Coming here was a mistake.”

In response to Al Jazeera’s report, an Awami League spokesperson denied that Sheikh Hasina ever ordered the use of lethal weapons or gave shoot-to-kill directives.

The statement accused the channel of distorting or selectively editing the recordings and defended the government’s handling of the investigation into Abu Sayeed’s death, claiming it showed “deep sincerity.”

Source: Al Jazeera