Montenegrin court revokes extradition approval
Montenegro’s appeals court revoked Do-Kwon’s extradition approval, accepted an appeal from the Terraform Labs co-founder’s lawyers and annulled the High Court’s November 17 decision.
According to the statement, the Court of Appeal noted issues of legal procedure, particularly the lack of clear reasons and facts in the High Court’s decision.
The court judged that although Korea’s request appeared to have been properly processed, with Do-kwon agreeing to a speedy extradition process, there was a procedural problem in the way the examining judge handled the United States’ extradition request.
Specifically, the judge stated that he did not properly inform Mr. Do-kwon of the reasons and evidence requested by the United States, and that he did not request a defense from Mr. Do-kwon as required by law. The case has now been remanded to the trial court for a retrial.
The High Court of Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, agreed to extradite Do-Kwon, who was previously sentenced to four months in prison in Montenegro on charges of document forgery, to another country. Montenegro’s Minister of Justice was expected to make the final decision on which country would take priority.
Terra ecosystem collapse
Mr. Do-Kwon’s extradition was pursued on charges related to financial crimes in the United States and Korea resulting from the collapse of the multibillion-dollar Terra ecosystem in May 2022.
Last week, Bloomberg News reported that Mr. Do-Kwon’s detention in Montenegro was extended until February 15 at the request of the United States and South Korea while his extradition appeal was ongoing. The detention period was scheduled to end on Friday, December 15.
Previously, the Wall Street Journal reported that the co-founder of Terraform Labs would be extradited to the United States, citing anonymous sources who said Montenegro’s Justice Minister informed people of his plans through private discussions.
Mr. Kwon was first arrested in Montenegro last March on charges of trying to leave the country using a fake passport. But he was released from jail ahead of trial last May after a court granted him $436,000 bail. Later in June, a Montenegrin court sentenced him to four months in prison for document forgery. Mr. Kwon appealed the court ruling and lost, and was eventually sentenced to four months in prison in November.
Mr. Kwon became the focus of a global search after global police agency Interpol reportedly issued a so-called red notice to him in September 2022 after two tokens he created, TerraUSD and Luna, collapsed in May 2022, resulting in a loss of approximately $40. It is done. In just a few days, the investor’s assets reach $1 billion.
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