Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina directly ordered the use of “lethal weapons” to crush the anti-discrimination student movement, according to a statement by Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who was then Inspector General of Police (IGP).

In his testimony, Al-Mamun said he received the order on 18 July 2024 from then–Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, who conveyed Hasina’s directive. From that day, security forces began using deadly weapons against protesters. The carnage, he said, was carried out under the orders of Sheikh Hasina and Asaduzzaman Khan.

Al-Mamun gave his statement on Tuesday before International Crimes Tribunal-1, becoming the first accused in the tribunal’s history to confess to crimes against humanity and testify as an “approver.”

He himself, along with Sheikh Hasina and Asaduzzaman Khan, has been charged in a crimes against humanity case over atrocities committed during the July–August 2024 mass uprising. On 10 July 2025, Al-Mamun pleaded guilty and applied to turn approver. His application was approved that day, but his full statement was recorded yesterday, Tuesday. So far, 36 witnesses, including him, have testified in the case.