Latest news with #Earshot
Saudi Gazette
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Saudi Gazette
Ex-Bangladesh leader authorised deadly crackdown, leaked audio suggests
DHAKA — A deadly crackdown on student-led protests in Bangladesh last year was authorised by then prime minister Sheikh Hasina, according to audio of one of her phone calls verified by BBC Eye. In the audio, which was leaked online in March, 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. Up to 1,400 people died in last summer's unrest, according to UN investigators. Hasina, who fled to India, and her party reject all charges against her. A spokesperson for her Awami League party denied the tape showed any "unlawful intention" of "disproportionate response". The leaked audio of Hasina's conversation with an unidentified senior government official is the most significant evidence yet that she gave direct authorisation to shoot anti-government protesters, tens of thousands of whom had taken to the streets by last summer. The protests began against civil service job quotas for relatives of those who fought in the 1971 war of independence and escalated into a mass movement that ousted Hasina, who had been in power for 15 years. It is the worst violence Bangladesh had seen since the 1971 war. Some of the bloodiest scenes occurred on 5 August, the day Hasina fled by helicopter before crowds stormed her residence in Dhaka. The BBC World Service investigation established previously unreported details about a police massacre of protesters in the capital - including a much higher death toll. Hasina was at her residence in Dhaka, known as the Ganabhaban, for the duration of the call which took place on 18 July, a source with knowledge of the leaked audio told the BBC. It was a crucial moment in the demonstrations. Security officials were responding to public outrage at police killings of protesters captured on video and shared across social media. In the days following the call, military-grade rifles were deployed and used across Dhaka, according to police documents seen by the BBC. The recording the BBC examined is one of numerous calls involving Sheikh Hasina that were made by the National Telecommunications Monitoring Centre (NTMC), a Bangladeshi government body responsible for monitoring communications. The audio of the call was leaked in early March this year - it's unclear by whom. Since the protests, numerous clips of Hasina's calls have appeared online, many of them unverified. The leaked 18 July recording was voice matched by the Criminal Investigation Department in the Bangladesh Police with known audio of Sheikh Hasina's voice. The BBC conducted its own independent verification by sharing the recording with audio forensics experts Earshot, who found no evidence the speech had been edited or manipulated and said it was highly unlikely to have been synthetically generated. Earshot said the leaked recording was likely to have been taken in a room with the phone call played back on a speaker, due to the presence of distinctive telephonic frequencies and background sounds. Earshot identified Electric Network Frequency (ENF) throughout the recording, a frequency that's often present in audio recordings due to interference between a recording device and mains-powered equipment, an indicator that the audio has not been manipulated. Earshot also analysed Sheikh Hasina's speech – the rhythm, intonation and breath sounds - and identified consistent noise floor levels, finding no evidence of synthetic artefacts in the audio. "The recordings are critical for establishing her role, they are clear and have been properly authenticated, and are supported by other evidence," British international human rights barrister Toby Cadman told the BBC. He is advising Bangladesh's International Criminal Tribunal (ICT), the court hearing cases against Hasina and others. An Awami League spokesperson said: "We cannot confirm whether the tape recording referenced by the BBC is authentic." Alongside Sheikh Hasina, former government and police officials have been implicated in the killings of protesters. A total of 203 individuals have been indicted by the ICT, of whom 73 are in custody. BBC Eye analysed and verified hundreds of videos, images and documents detailing police attacks against demonstrators across 36 days. The investigation found that in one incident on 5 August in Jatrabari, a busy Dhaka neighbourhood, at least 52 people were killed by police, making it one of the worst incidents of police violence in Bangladesh's history. Initial reports at the time suggested 30 dead in Jatrabari on that day. The BBC investigation uncovered new details about how the massacre started and ended. Gathering eyewitness footage, CCTV and drone imagery, BBC Eye established that police opened fire indiscriminately on protesters immediately after army personnel, who were separating the police from the protesters, vacated the area. For more than 30 minutes the police shot at fleeing protesters as they tried to escape down alleyways and on the highway, before the police officers sought shelter in a nearby army camp. At least six police officers were also killed as protesters retaliated hours later, setting fire to the Jatrabari police station. A spokesperson for the Bangladesh Police told the BBC that 60 police officers had been arrested for their role in the violence in July and August last year. "There were regrettable incidents in which certain members of the then police force engaged in excessive use of force," said the spokesperson. "Bangladesh Police has launched thorough and impartial investigations." Sheikh Hasina's trial began last month. She has been charged with committing crimes against humanity, including issuing orders that led to mass killings and targeted violence against civilians, as well as incitement, conspiracy and failure to prevent mass murder. India has so far failed to comply with a Bangladeshi request for her extradition. It is unlikely that Hasina will return to the country for the trial, Mr Cadman said. The Awami League maintains that its leaders are not liable for the force used against protesters. "The Awami League categorically denies and rejects claims that some of its senior leaders, including the prime minister herself, were personally responsible for or directed the use of lethal force against crowds," a spokesperson for the party said. "The decisions made by senior government officials were proportionate in nature, made in good faith and intended to minimise the loss of life." The party has rejected the findings of United Nations investigators, who said they had found reasonable grounds to believe the actions of Hasina and her government could amount to crimes against humanity. The BBC approached the Bangladesh army for comment but did not receive a response. Since Hasina's fall, Bangladesh has been ruled by an interim government led by Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus. His government is preparing for national elections. It's unclear if the Awami League will be allowed to contest the vote. — BBC
Winnipeg Free Press
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Discounts offered for musicians to send tunes to campus stations
Local musicians can save some serious dough when sending their work to community radio stations across the country via a new grant program from online distribution platform Earshot. Until Jan. 31, 2026, artist-members of Manitoba Music will have access to a 50 per cent discount code when uploading their music to the Earshot platform, allowing the work to reach the distributor's network of 120 member stations from the National Campus and Community Radio Association (NCRA). Digital distribution costs through Earshot are typically $7 per song or $50 per album, plus applicable taxes, says Eloisa Veliz, Earshot's marketing and outreach co-ordinator. The MAPL!e Grant discount code can be used as many times as artists want within the allotted period, allowing artists to upload their back catalogs or newly released projects at the discounted price. Sheinina Raj and Raissa Bado photo Kelly Bado is part of the lineup for the inaugural Village Music Fest. Since 2018, through its digital distribution system, Earshot has aimed to streamline the process for Canadian musicians to get their work searched, reviewed and downloaded by campus and community stations for broadcast across Canada. Michael Elves, the program director for 101.5 UMFM, says the end of the era of receiving physical copies of new releases was hastened by the pandemic; of every 100 projects the station receives, about 10 are physical media, as opposed to about 40 prior to the pandemic. However, the output of artists hasn't slowed: by Tuesday, Elves says, he had already received 56 records to review for station use, not including singles. The digital distribution hub, though still not free, is comparatively more affordable than commercial options, which can cost over $500, says Veliz. Physical mailers, which artists used to rely on to reach stations across the country, have both a prohibitive per-unit cost and an environmental impact, the distributor says. By allowing artists to self-identify according to specific genres, the program also allows for targeted discovery by programmers, Veliz adds. Earshot last offered its grant program from August 2023 to February 2024. During that period, the discount codes were used 322 times nationally, with just over $2,800 granted to artists to partially cover distribution costs. Manitoban artists only used the discount code 15 times, for a total savings of $117, according to Earshot statistics. UMFM's Elves says the Earshot program centralizes distribution across campus and community stations, levelling the playing field for artists who can't afford publicists or who are releasing their work without the support of a label. Earshot's charts, which aggregate airplay statistics from NCRA stations, including UMFM, provide a national snapshot of listening habits on 'It's a good, diverse reflection of what's happening in Canada,' says Elves. Last week, Canadian artists in the top 10 included Destroyer (1), Marie Davidson (2), Art D'Ecco (3), Men I Trust (4) Cootie Catcher (5), Sister Ray (6), Saya Gray (7), Ribbon Skirt (8), Bells Larsen (9) and Bria Salmena (10). Top Manitoban artists included Jimmie Kilpatrick (16), Propagandhi (18) and the P.E.I.-based the Burning Hell (29), featuring former Winnipegger Mathias Kom. On the specialty Jazz chart, the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra's East Meets West: Connections is holding down the 10th spot. With At Peace, Propagandhi tops the Loud charts. Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. June 27 and 28 with more than 30 musical performances across six venues, as well as interactive public art installations. Kicking off on Canadian Multiculturalism Day and ahead of Canada Day, the event is billed as a celebration of national diversity and is co-organized by the Osborne Village BIZ, Real Love and the Village Idiots. The lineup includes local and Canadian acts including Kelly Bado, Jérémie and the Delicious Hounds, Fontine, Dirty Catfish Brass Band, Cartel Madras and Kimmortal. Entertainment runs Friday from 8:30 p.m. to midnight and Saturday from 1 p.m. to midnight. Venues include the Osborne Taphouse, the Toad in the Hole Pub, Must Be the Place, ANAF Club 60, Small Mercies and the outdoor Bell Tower park. Visit for more information. Ben WaldmanReporter Ben Waldman is a National Newspaper Award-nominated reporter on the Arts & Life desk at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg, Ben completed three internships with the Free Press while earning his degree at Ryerson University's (now Toronto Metropolitan University's) School of Journalism before joining the newsroom full-time in 2019. Read more about Ben. Every piece of reporting Ben produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
