New Delhi: Ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had "authorised a deadly crackdown" on student-led protests in the country last year, a media report said, citing audio of one of her phone calls. In the audio, which was leaked online in March and verified by BBC Eye, Hasina says she authorised her security forces to "use lethal weapons" against protesters and that "wherever they find (them), they will shoot".
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, the BBC reported.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal-1 has set July 10 to decide whether charges will be framed against Hasina and two of her top aides.
On Wednesday last week, Hasina was sentenced to six months in prison in absentia in a contempt of court case by the ICT.
It marks the first time that the 77-year-old Awami League leader has been sentenced in any case since she left office in August last year. According to a UN rights office report, up to 1,400 people were killed between July 15 and August 15 last year as Hasina's government ordered a security crackdown on protesters.
Most leaders of the Awami League and ministers and several officials of the past regime were arrested or were on the run at home and abroad as the interim government initiated their trial for brutal actions to tame the uprising last year, which led to the toppling of the nearly 16-year Awami League regime on August 5 and forced Hasina to leave the country for India.