Quader also directed internet restrictions, mobilised party activists, and discussed the use of lethal force, the prosecution added. A key recording played yesterday captured a July 16, 2024, conversation between Quader and then state minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak. Quader was heard telling Palak to “slow down the internet”, while Palak replied that he would first seek permission from “Netri”, referring to then prime minister Sheikh Hasina. The prosecution portrayed the exchange as a three-level chain of command: Quader issued the instruction, Hasina approved it, and Palak executed it. He said the recordings showed instructions to use lethal weapons and helicopters against protesters, as well as plans to fund and deploy party activists to attack them.