Former Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian has been acquitted more than four years after going on trial on corruption charges that he rejected as politically motivated.
Prosecutors said they will appeal the verdict handed down on May 31 by a Yerevan court.
Sarkisian, who ruled Armenia from 2008-18, was charged with giving privileged treatment in 2013 to his longtime friend, businessman Barsegh Beglarian, which allegedly cost the state more than $1 million in losses.
According to the prosecution, Sarkisian made sure that a government tender for supplies of subsidized diesel fuel to farmers was won by Beglarian's Flash company, rather than another fuel importer that offered a lower price.
The ex-president has said all along that the tender was fair because only Flash met the bidding specifications set by the Agriculture Ministry.
He also claimed that he and Beglarian were indicted as part of a political vendetta waged by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. The latter came to power in 2018 while leading mass protests that forced Sarkisian to resign.
Sarkisian's lawyer, Amram Makinian, praised the judge who presided over the marathon trial for clearing his client of any wrongdoing.
"This verdict shows that justice in Armenia is not yet completely dead and that we still have a chance to restore it," Makinian told reporters after its announcement.
"There was no evidence whatsoever in the case file of my defendant's wrongdoing," Makinian said, calling the verdict "the only possible ruling that the court could have delivered."
Sarkisian was more reserved. "It's not that I'm thrilled by this decision or that a different decision would have been a tragedy for me," he said. "Given the fact that the statute of limitations for such deeds has long expired, this verdict has a primarily moral significance for me."
Sarkisian refused last year to enter a plea on the statute of limitations and thus cut short his trial, insisting on his desire for a formal acquittal. He would not have gone to prison even if he had been found guilty.
The ex-president, who will turn 70 on June 30, did not quit active politics after losing power. He continues to lead the Republican Party, one of the two opposition groups represented in the current parliament.