Montenegro’s Supreme Court stalls Do Kwon’s extradition amid legal tussle Montenegro’s Supreme Court stalls Do Kwon’s extradition amid legal tussle
The apex court has overturned previous rulings and put Do Kwon's extradition process on hold indefinitely.
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Updated: Mar. 22, 2024 at 6:32 pm UTC
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Montenegro’s Supreme Court has intervened in Do Kwon’s extradition to South Korea, putting the process on hold indefinitely, according to a March 22 translation of the Court notice.
The Court said it overturned previous decisions from two lower courts that had greenlit Kwon’s extradition to South Korea because of the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office’s request.
Consequently, Kwon’s extradition process to South Korea would remain suspended “until a decision is made on the submitted request for the protection of legality.”
The Supreme Court Council said the ruling was in line with its powers “to postpone or stop the execution of the final court decision.”
Extradition battle
On March 21, Montenegro’s Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office contested the decision of the High Court of Podgorica and Appellate Court to extradite the Terraform Labs co-founder to South Korea instead of the US.
The prosecutor’s office asserted that the High Court overstepped its authority by conducting a hasty legal process in reaching the decision, which should have fallen under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice.
Furthermore, the prosecutor’s office criticized the Appellate Court for neglecting to consider the state prosecutor’s position in the appeal process, which upheld Kwon’s extradition to South Korea.
Over the past year, Kwon has been in Montenegrin custody following his arrest and imprisonment for attempting to use fake travel documents in the Balkan country.
Since then, South Korea and the United States have been competing to bring Kwon to their shores to answer for his role in the collapse of the Terra ecosystem in 2022.
In the US, the SEC alleged that Terraform Labs and Kwon offered and sold unregistered securities and engaged in fraud.
Similarly, South Korean authorities are trying Terra co-founder Daniel Shin for fraud, illegal fundraising, and violating capital market laws.
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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.