BBC Eye has verified the authenticity of an audio phone call in which then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina directly authorized lethal violence during operations to suppress protests amidst the July Revolution.
In the audio, which was leaked online in March, Sheikh Hasina can be heard saying she permitted her security forces to "use lethal weapons" against protesters and instructed that "they (protesters) will be shot wherever they are found."
Prosecutors plan to use this audio recording as crucial evidence in a special tribunal trying Hasina for crimes against humanity. This trial is proceeding in her absence.
According to UN investigators, approximately 1,400 people were killed during the July-August revolution.
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