Montenegrin appeals court overturns Do Kwon extradition decision News ▸ South Korea · US ▸ Terra ▸ Legal
Montenegrin appeals court overturns Do Kwon extradition decision
The appeals court struck down the previous extradition order, citing violations of the court's procedural codes.
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Updated: Dec. 19, 2023 at 3:40 pm UTC
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The Montenegro Court of Appeal has overturned the Podgorica High Court’s decision to extradite Do Kwon, co-founder of Terraform Labs, following his appeal, according to a Dec. 19 update on the court website.
Initially, the Podgorica High Court had greenlit Kwon’s extradition to either the U.S. or South Korea in November, citing these countries’ compliance with the legal criteria necessary for his extradition.
However, Kwon expressed dissatisfaction and filed an appeal. Subsequently, the court of appeal voided the extradition order, returning the case to a lower court for a fresh trial.
The recent ruling highlighted that the lower court’s extradition order breached specific legal provisions. A translated version of the notice reads:
“The panel of the Appellate Court assessed that that decision was affected by a significant violation of the provisions of criminal procedure from Article 386 paragraph 1 item 9 of the CPC, on which violation is reasonably indicated by the appeal of the defendant’s defense attorneys, because the decision does not have reasons for decisive facts, and the reasons given are unclear, which is the reason for its cancellation.”
Moreover, the appeal court criticized the lower court for disregarding Kwon’s stance on extradition to the U.S.
While uncertainty looms over where Kwon would be sent, the disgraced crypto tycoon has previously expressed preference to be extradited to South Korea. However, Montenegro’s Minister of Justice reportedly leans towards extraditing him to the U.S.
These developments follow Kwon’s arrest earlier this year in Montenegro for traveling with forged documents. He was subsequently imprisoned for four months.
Meanwhile, the U.S. and South Korea have both filed legal actions against Kwon for his alleged role in the collapse of Terra’s algorithmic UST stablecoin that wiped out more than $40 billion from the industry.
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Terra is a blockchain protocol that uses fiat-pegged stablecoins to power price-stable global payments systems.
Terraform Labs
Terraform Labs is a startup that created Terra, a blockchain protocol and payment platform used for algorithmic stablecoins.
Do Kwon began his professional journey as an engineer, contributing to tech giants Apple and Microsoft.