A witness on Monday testified that deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina ordered the use of helicopters and drones to attack protesters in Mohammadpur near the prime minister鈥檚 official residence.
Sabrina Afroza Sebonti, sister of July 2024 martyr Mahamudur Rahman Saikat, on Monday said this while testifying before the International Crimes Tribunal-1 in the capital.
Sebonti, an honours student at the English Department of Bangladesh University in Mohammadpur, appeared as the 49th prosecution witness in the case against Hasina, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, and former inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun.
She accused the former聽 leadership of issuing illegal orders that led to killings during the July 2024 student movement.
She told the tribunal that on July 19, 2024, her younger brother Saikat left home after the Jumma prayers to join a demonstration near the south end of Noorjahan Road.
Around 3:34 pm, the police shot him in close range, killing him instantly.
Sebonti referred to the reported audio recordings aired by Al Jazeera Television, which she said were presented to her during an interview.
One recording, according to her, captured a conversation between Sheikh Hasina and Dhaka South City Corporation mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh.
During that call, Hasina ordered Taposh to locate protesters in Mohammadpur using drones and fire on them from helicopters with 鈥榣ethal weapons.鈥�
She also mentioned another audio clip between Hasina and former Dhaka University vice-chancellor Prof Maksud Kamal, where the former prime minister referred to protesters as 鈥楻azakars鈥� and threatened to 鈥榚liminate them England-style.鈥�
Additionally, Sebonti claimed to have heard a separate conversation between Hasina and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Jasod) president Hasanul Haq Inu, in which Hasina admitted to ordering bomb attacks on student protesters.
This third audio was reportedly found circulating on social media.
Calling Hasina a 鈥榢iller,鈥櫬� 鈥榓utocrat,鈥� and 鈥榰nelected ruler,鈥� Sebonti demanded the execution of Hasina and her associates, including Asaduzzaman Khan and IGP Abdullah Al Mamun, for what she called their command responsibility in the July 2024 atrocities.
Saikat, who was Sebonti鈥檚 third brother, had completed his Higher Secondary Certificate examination from Mohammadpur Government Model School and was preparing for university admission at the time of his death.
The tribunal, chaired by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, is expected to hear a forensic expert today as the 50th prosecution witness, tasked with verifying the authenticity of the alleged audio recordings.
