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Former state minister for information and communication technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak ordered the suspension of 3G and 4G internet services at all public universities and four private universities during the July uprising in 2024, a witness has told the International Crimes Tribunal-1.
Mahdi Ahmed, deputy director of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), made the statement during his testimony on Monday (October 12). He was serving as a deputy director in the BTRC’s Engineering and Operations department during the uprising.
Mahdi is a prosecution witness in a case filed against Sajeeb Wazed Joy, son of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, and former state minister Palak over crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the July uprising.
In his testimony, Mahdi said BTRC’s then director general, Brigadier General Mostafizar Rahman, called him on WhatsApp shortly after 12:30am on July 15, 2024.
He said Palak had ordered the suspension of 3G and 4G networks at five public universities based on information from the Home Ministry and several intelligence agencies. Following the instruction, the BTRC director general sent directions to senior officials of mobile operators via WhatsApp and informed Mahdi of the matter over a call.
Mahdi further testified that a similar order was issued on July 16 to suspend 3G and 4G services at all public universities and four private universities.
According to the witness, Palak conveyed the directive to the then BTRC chairman, who informed the director general. The director general then directly instructed senior officials of mobile operators to implement the shutdown. Mahdi said he learned of the order around 6:30pm that day while working at his office.
He also mentioned a previously scheduled high-level meeting held online on July 16, attended by then ICT adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy and Palak. Although Mahdi was not present at the meeting, he supplied documents he had prepared to the director general. Retrospective approval for the network shutdown was obtained through the documents, he said.
Mahdi told the tribunal that another meeting was held at the BTRC office in Agargaon on July 28, 2024, chaired by Palak and attended by representatives of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), National Security Intelligence (NSI), National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC), mobile financial service agencies and mobile operators.
At the meeting, Palak instructed then NTMC director general Ziaul Ahsan to restore 3G and 4G services of four mobile operators. He also directed the BTRC to keep the cache servers of Facebook, TikTok, Akamai and Baisan shut down, the witness said.
Mahdi added that Palak later instructed the BTRC chairman on July 31 to reactivate the cache servers of Facebook, TikTok, Akamai and Baisan.
