The Appellate Court of Montenegro has once more reversed an earlier ruling by a subordinate court that had ordered the executive’s extradition of Terra’s founder, Do Kwon, to the United States.
Officially, on March 5, the Appellate Court of Montenegro rendered a decision nullifying the High Court of Podgorica’s decree that had approved Kwon’s extradition to the United States.
Per the court’s records, on February 20, the High Court in Podgorica previously authorized Kwon’s extradition to the United States to prosecute him for multiple criminal offenses.
According to the jury of the Appellate Court, “significant violations of the provisions of criminal procedure” of the local laws compromised the previous order of the High Court in Podgorica.
The panel stated in the announcement, “There are no clear and valid reasons for decisive facts regarding the letter requesting the order of arrival.”
Since his detention in Montenegro in March 2023, the most recent ruling by the Appellate Court of Montenegro signifies an additional development in the lengthy history of Kwon’s extradition proceedings.
Terraform Labs’ founder’s extradition to his native country sparked significant debates as the United States and South Korea issued extradition requests for Kwon shortly after that.
Preceding December 2023, the Appellate Court of Montenegro revoked Kwon’s extradition authorization to either the United States or South Korea because the case warranted a retrial before the Podgorica Basic Court.
Before November 2023, the High Court of Podgorica established the legal prerequisites for Kwon’s extradition. Consequently, the minister of justice of Montenegro retains the ultimate authority to determine Kwon’s extradition.
As the developer of the Terra blockchain, Terraform Labs is infamous for the collapse of the Terra stablecoin and the Luna token in May 2022, both of which were allegedly fraudulent.
The U.S. Security and Exchange Commission has determined that Terraform Labs and its co-founder Kwon were responsible for a fraudulent scheme that resulted in the market wiping off a minimum of $40 billion.
