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The murder trial of Nasrudin Zulkarnaen had been conducted incorrectly since the beginning because the multiple-defendant case was tried at two different locations, a law expert said on Thursday as four of the defendants, three of whom were facing possible death sentences, awaited their verdicts.

“It is normal but it is wrong,” Rudi Satrio, a law expert from the University in Indonesia, told Metro TV.

Judges at South Jakarta District Court were expected to deliver their verdicts for the four remaining defendants in the case on Thursday. They are former chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission Antasari Azhar, former South Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Wiliardi Wizar, businessman Sigid Haryo Wibisono and Jerry Hermawan Lo.

Rudi said there was a 50/50 chance that the judges would free all defendants from all charges. According to Rudi, the case involved a lot of people so prosecutors decided to separate the trial. The executors were tried at Tangerang Court while the other four faced their hearings at South Jakarta District Court.

He said the separation was not effective because prosecutors had to prove links between one defendant and another.

“If the trials are separated, how could they prove it?” Rudi said.

He said that he believed Thursday’s verdicts were likely to be very much influenced by the verdicts for the executors, which were delivered in Tangerang Court in December. The five executors were each sentenced to between 17 and 18 years imprisonment.

“The executors committed the murder because they received an order from the other people, who were tried at the South Jakarta court. Therefore, if today the four defendants are freed of all charges then the Tangerang Court’s verdict would be flawed,” Rudi said.