‘Slow down the internet a little’: Quader-Palak conversation played at Tribunal

Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader instructed that internet speeds be slowed during the July Mass Uprising, with the directive approved by ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and implemented by then State Minister for Information and Communication Technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak.

Prosecutor Gazi Monawar Hossain Tamim made the claims while presenting closing arguments in the case concerning crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the July Mass Uprising.

He presented arguments for the third consecutive day on Sunday before International Crimes Tribunal-2, headed by Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury.

The other two members of the three-member tribunal are Judge Md Manjurul Bashid and Judge Nur Mohammad Shahriar Kabir.

Early in Sunday’s proceedings, the tribunal played an audio recording of a telephone conversation between Obaidul Quader and Zunaid Ahmed Palak. In the recording, Quader is heard saying, “Slow down the internet a little.”

Palak replies, “Shall I get permission from the Leader?”

“Get it,” Quader responds.

Palak then says, “You know, it has been said that unless she says...” Quader subsequently instructs him to ask Sheikh Hasina and then slow down the internet.

Prosecutor Gazi Monawar told the tribunal that the telephone conversation between Quader and Palak was not merely an exchange of words and that the prosecution had established its significance through documentary evidence.

A document from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) states that internet services were suspended or restricted following verbal instructions from then State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak.

It further says Palak informed the BTRC that the measures had been implemented on the instructions of the Ministry of Home Affairs and on the basis of information provided by various intelligence agencies.

According to the list of measures recorded in the document, at 6:39 pm on 16 July 2024, instructions were issued to suspend 3G and 4G network services at 1,153 sites across 55 public universities and four private universities—59 universities in total.

The document was subsequently submitted for retrospective approval of the network shutdown measures, taking all relevant circumstances into consideration. It bears the signatures of the then BTRC director general and other officials concerned.

The other accused in the case, apart from Obaidul Quader, are Awami League Joint General Secretary AFM Bahauddin Nasim; former State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat; Jubo League Chairman Sheikh Fazle Shams Parash and General Secretary Mainul Hossain Khan; and Chhatra League President Saddam Hossain and General Secretary Sheikh Wali Asif.

All the accused in the case are absconding.