Ershad pleads not guilty in radar purchase case

Former President Hussein Muhammad Ershad on Thursday pleaded not guilty in Radar purchase case, filed over two decades ago. The Jatiya Party (JP) chief also demanded justice when the court read out charges brought against him by 12 witnesses. The judge of the Special Court for Dhaka Division fixed May 29 for the next argument. The court will hear arguments from both the prosecution and the defence that day. All the three accused in the case, including Ershad, told the judge that they would not give any confessional statement. The other two accused are former Air Force chiefs Mamtazuddin Ahmed and Sultan Ahmed. Both of them also pleaded innocence and sought justice in the case. Statements of prosecution witnesses in the case were recorded on April 24 this year when the court also fixed May 15 for cross-examining the accused. Ershad was made accused in the case pertaining to irregularities in the purchase of radar for air force on May 4, 1992. The then Anti-Corruption Bureau pressed the charges in the court on Oct 27, 1994, according to bdnews24.com.