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Attorney General Hendarman Supandji said that Wednesday’s guilty verdicts against five men for murdering businessman Nasrudin Zulkarnaen will give momentum to state prosecutors in the ongoing trial of former anti-corruption czar Antasari Azhar, the alleged mastermind of the plot, and three other high-profile co-defendants.

“The verdict will certainly have an impact on the trial of the other defendants, because they actually belong to the same group,” Hendarman said.

“Prosecutors are required to have at least two [separate pieces] of evidence before bringing a case to the court. In this particular case, we have tons of evidence,” he said.

The Tangerang District Court found Daniel Daen Sabon, Heri Santosa, Hendrikus Kia Walen, Eduardus Noe Ndope Mbete and Fransiskus Tadon Kerans guilty of carrying out the March 14 gun attack on Nasrudin as he was riding in the back of his car. He suffered severe head wounds and died the next day. The five men were sentenced to prison terms of 17 to 18 years.

Prosecutors at the South Jakarta District Court have been criticized for failing to present convincing evidence and testimony against Antasari, policeman Wiliardi Wizar, businessman Sigid Haryo Wibisono and alleged middleman Jerry Hermawan Lo. They are charged with orchestrating Nasrudin’s murder.

Prosecutors alleged that Antasari ordered the murder after Nasrudin attempted to blackmail him over an alleged sexual encounter between Antasari and the victim’s third wife, golf caddie Rani Juliani.

Wiliardi claimed in court that he had been set up by his superiors at National Police headquarters who were trying to bring down Antasari, who was the chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) when he was arrested in May.

Prosecutors opened the trial in October by outlining in graphic detail an alleged sexual encounter between Antasari and Rani in a Jakarta hotel room.

Their move triggered outrage because the hearing was aired live on national television, prompting the judges to order a closed session when Rani later testified as a witness.

Chief prosecutor Cirus Sinaga has been ridiculed for either asking silly questions of witnesses, failing to present witnesses as scheduled and refusing to show key evidence that he himself had put on the list.

The prosecution presented secret recordings of conversations between Antasari and Rani at the Grand Mahakam Hotel, and a text message to Nasrudin threatening him if he revealed the affair.

However, legal expert Andi Hamzah suggested that text messages weren’t recognized within the country’s judicial system as evidence.

Earlier this week, information technology experts failed to open the text message and replay the recordings in Nasrudin’s cellphone when they testified.

Nevertheless, state prosecutors said Wednesday’s verdict was a good sign.

“Today’s verdict represents a legal fact that should be taken into account by the judges in the South Jakarta District Court, because all [nine] defendants are connected to one case,” said Raharjo, who is part of the prosecution team in both cases.

Antasari’s lawyer, Muhammad Assegaf, dismissed Raharjo’s comments as nonsense, saying his client had nothing to do with the hitmen who murdered Nasrudin.

“Antasari Azhar neither met them nor knew them personally before the murder. My client is accused of masterminding the murder, but in fact he never met the convicted murderers. How come?” he said.