Attorney-General Idrus Harun said only then would his office decide whether or not to file an appeal to the Federal Court and obtain a stay on delivering the statements.

“We still have time. We will study the matter first, especially the grounds of decision before we decide,” he told FMT in a text message today.

Last week, a three-member Court of Appeal bench chaired by Nor Bee Ariffin held that the 112 statements were not privileged documents and did not affect public interest.

Nor Bee, who sat with Supang Lian and Mariana Yahya, said that the issue of tampering of witnesses did not arise as the criminal trial was concluded six years ago.

The bench also ordered that the statements must be handed over to the family within 14 days.

This included statements recorded from political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda and former policemen Sirul Azhar Umar and Azilah Hadri, the defendants in the ongoing civil proceedings.

It is understood that the government wants to study the written grounds to see if the ruling only applies to this case or whether it could be applied across the board.

The 14-day deadline to hand over the statements ends on Oct 8.

Altantuya’s father Setev, his wife Altantsetseg Sanjaa and Altantuya’s son Mungunshagai Bayarjargal had named Razak, the government, Sirul and Azilah as defendants in their suit.

Alleging conspiracy in Altantuya’s murder, they are seeking RM100 million in damages, including dependency claims.

At least 10 witnesses for the Mongolian family have given evidence and the case will continue on Jan 11.

The Federal Court in 2015 restored the High Court verdict that found Sirul and Azilah responsible for the murder of Altantuya, who was described as an interpreter.

Razak, who was charged with abetment in the murder, was acquitted without his defence being called and the government did not appeal.

Neither Sirul, who is being held at an Australian detention centre, nor Azilah, who is on death row in Kajang Prison, have challenged the suit.