The leaked audio recording in which deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina ordering a crackdown on student-led protesters with lethal weapons was extracted from the server of National Telecommunication and Monitoring Centre (NTMC) in December last year.
Special Investigator of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) Tanvir Hassan Zoha, who recovered the audio clip as part of his investigation, said the audio clip is so far the only “undeniable evidence” of Hasina’s involvement in the killings during last year’s July-August mass uprising.
“We managed to get a number of audio recordings that captured Hasina’s conversations with her party leaders and officials of the law-enforcement agencies, many of which are relating to quell the uprising and bring the situation under control,” Zoha told the Times of Bangladesh, adding that leaked audio is a key document to frame Hasina in committing crimes against humanity.
Dismissing propaganda about the authenticity of the audio, he said that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) verified its authenticity in its forensic lab in January, confirming that the voice heard in the audio was of Hasina and another top official.
When the audio was leaked in March this year, it caused widespread criticism about how such sensitive evidence of the case went to the social media platforms.
The BBC Eye verified the clip in its investigative story that was released early Wednesday, also confirming it to be Hasina’s voice. The story made it clear that the audio is not AI generated. However, experts noted thbat the voice that was leaked was recorded on loud-speaker mode from the original source before its leakage.
“The genuine audio clip is preserved with the tribunal maintaining proper chain of custody,” Zoha told Times of Bangladesh.