Heru Andriyanto – Former tax official Gayus Tambunan on Monday filed an appeal against his bribery conviction and seven-year sentence, despite previously lauding the court's decision to not give him 20 years as sought by prosecutors.

Gayus was convicted last Monday of bribing a judge and police officers to ensure his acquittal in his first trial in Tangerang last year, which centered on the Rp 28 billion ($3.1 million) in his personal bank accounts.

Junder Tambunan, the convict's newly appointed lawyer, said a request for an appeal had been filed with the South Jakarta District Court, although the appeal documents would only be submitted once he had studied a copy of last week's verdict.

Prosecutors have already lodged their appeal as they seek to have Gayus slapped with a heavier sentence.

Despite having been tried twice, Gayus faces more time in the dock as police prepare a charge sheet related to trips to Bali, Macau, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur that he made last year while he was supposed to be in remand.

He is also expected to stand trial for taking bribes from corporate taxpayers who allegedly used his service to ease tax regulations.

"Multiple trials are possible because the police are preparing separate cases against Gayus," Faried Haryanto, director of prosecution at the Attorney General's Office, said.

"We'll make the indictment based on the charge sheets from the police" he added. "If they hand us separate charges, we'll make new indictments."

However, criminal law expert Chairul Huda suggested that the remaining cases against Gayus be combined into a single indictment.

"We should opt for an efficient and low-cost trial," he said. "It's not necessary for a single defendant like Gayus to face four or five trials. The prosecutors should wait until the police complete all the charge sheets and then prepare just one indictment for those altogether."

He said such a move would be supported by Article 25 of the Criminal Code, which states that multiple cases can be combined into one, in which case the final sentence handed down is one and a third times the heaviest sentence of the individual charges.

Even as authorities prepare to pursue the other charges against the former taxman, the fallout from his case continues to resound.

On Monday, the government revealed that nearly 60 officials from various bureaus had been suspended for their alleged role in the long-running saga. Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar said his ministry had suspended 35 officials from the immigration office.

The suspended officials include those from the East Jakarta Immigration Office, where Gayus was issued the fake passport that allowed him to go on his overseas jaunts.

Others include immigration officials from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, whose collaboration or negligence allowed Gayus through passport control unflagged, Patrialis said.

National Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said 17 officers from the force had been suspended ever since the detective unit began its investigation of the case.

"None of these officers are active in their positions and all have been relieved of their duties," he said. He added police investigators were determining whether they should be cited for criminal or ethical violations.

Attorney General Basrief Arief said his office had suspended C.S. and P.M., believed to be Cirus Sinaga and Poltak Manulang, the prosecutors alleged to have watered down Gayus's charges in the first trial, thus helping him get acquitted.

"Since there's a criminal indication with regards to C.S., we've handed the case to the police," Basrief said.

Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo said five more tax officials had been suspended, in addition to those disciplined after the scandal broke last March.

Last week, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered the institutions implicated in the case to clean house within a week. He specifically called for a restructuring of the tax and immigration offices.

On Friday, the Finance Ministry responded by replacing tax chief Mochamad Tjiptardjo with Fuad Rahmani, while the justice ministry replaced Muhammad Indra with Bambang Irawan as the immigration chief.