The court had scheduled a hearing at 1.30pm Thursday after a five-month long hiatus. "The hearing has been cancelled upon request by the defence. Don't know when the hearing will be rescheduled," High Court spokesperson Ameen Faisal said. Mohamed Nazim, who had served as the defence minister under former president Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik and incumbent president Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, is serving an 11-year prison sentence for smuggling and possessing dangerous weapons. The High Court had held two hearings over Nazim's appeal in June, but the case had been stalled ever since. The case stalled after three out of the five judges were removed from the bench that had been looking into the appeal. Judge Abdul Ghani Mohamed, who had presided over the case, and judge Shuaib Hussein Zakariyya were transferred to the court’s branch established in the southern part of the country, while judge Abbas Shareef retired. Judges Abdulla Didi and Shujau Usman were on the Criminal Court bench that ruled against Nazim. They have since been promoted to the High Court, but are not on the bench that had been constituted to look into the appeal filed by Nazim. With the absence of both Didi and Usman from the bench, Nazim’s appeal would likely be presided over by judges Ali Sameer, Abdu Rauf and Abdulla Hameed. However, the judge who would preside over the bench is yet unclear. In May, Nazim was allowed to get treatment in Singapore for blurred vision. He spent 45 days in Singapore, and upon his return was re-taken to the Asseyri Prison in Hinmafushi island. Following another request but this time to get Nazim to India, the government had granted permission for him to go to Singapore for medical treatment After Nazim was not allowed to travel to India for medical treatment, his younger brother Adam Azim and legal counsel Husnu Al Suood travelled to Indian capital New Delhi in September to meet with officials of the International Red Cross Committee to apprise them of the status of prisoners. Nazim’s family had also announced their intention to follow jailed former President Mohamed Nasheed’s lead and file a case with the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. The statement by Nazim's family, who claim that it was the only way for him to get justice, came after the UN group had ruled that former president Nasheed's imprisonment had been arbitrary. The Maldives government, however, has refused to accept the opinion.