A metropolitan session judge acquitted Ershad, a military chief who became president of the South Asian country in the 1980s, and two others of a radar purchase scam, prosecutor Mir Ahmed Ali Salam said.
“We will take the next course of legal actions after reviewing the full verdict,” he said.
The prosecution failed to prove the charges brought against them, said defence lawyer
Sheikh Sirajul Islam.
Bangladesh’s anti-corruption agency filed the graft case in May 1992, accusing Ershad and three others of causing the loss of more than $7.8m to the national exchequer by awarding the deal to a US company instead of a French one during his tenure in office.
Army chief Ershad took power after a bloodless coup in 1982 and ruled the country with an iron fist for nine years, until he was ousted in 1990.
The trial remained suspended for more than four years after investigators pressed charges against Ershad, two former high-ranking air force officers and a businessman in 1994.
The court also acquitted the former air force officers. The businessman died during the course of trial.
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