Montenegro’s Supreme Court to Decide Do Kwon Extradition Case

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Key takeaways:

  • Due to a challenge from Montenegrin prosecutors that might take the case to the country’s Supreme Court, Do Kwon may not be extradited to South Korea to face criminal charges.
  • It looked as though the co-founder of Terraform Labs might be deported to South Korea after a ruling on March 20.

Due to a challenge from Montenegrin prosecutors that might take the case to the country’s Supreme Court, Do Kwon, the co-founder of Terraform Labs, may not be extradited to South Korea to face criminal charges.

Prosecutors announced on March 21 that they had filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of Montenegro to prevent Kwon’s extradition to South Korea, and they were seeking a protection of legality in response.ย 

The motion states that the appellate court disregarded Kwon’s legal team’s appeal, which was against the procedure. It contended that the Supreme Court was the only court with the power to rule.

The question of Kwon’s extradition to the US or South Korea, where he might be prosecuted for his part in Terraform Labs’ demise, has been debated by Montenegrin courts. 

It looked as though the co-founder of Terraform Labs might be deported to South Korea after a ruling on March 20. The Supreme Court might, prosecutors said, “issue a verdict that would change the Court’s decision.” In a statement that was translated, prosecutors said:

โ€œCourt, contrary to the law, conducted abbreviated, instead of regular proceedings and by exceeding the limits of its powers, made a decision on the extradition permit, which is the exclusive competence of the Minister of Justice,โ€

Kwon, a citizen of South Korea, appears to have preferred extradition to his own nation over the United States. The South Korean government has been applying severe penalties to those who are implicated in crimes related to cryptocurrencies since the collapse of Terra in 2022. 

High-profile members of the cryptocurrency community in the US, including Changpeng Zhao (CZ), Alex Mashinsky, and Sam Bankman-Fried, have entered guilty pleas, been found guilty, or will go on trial for their roles at FTX, Binance, and Celsius, respectively.

Montenegrin authorities took Kwon into custody in March 2023 for using forged travel documents. He received a four-month prison sentence and has been detained while the nation considers petitions for his extradition from South Korea and the United States.

South Korean authorities indicted several people connected to Terraform Labs, including co-founder Hyun-seong Shin. Han Chang-joon, the company’s former CFO, was detained in Montenegro concurrently with Kwon but was extradited to South Korea in February.

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