The Supreme Court of Montenegro overturned Do Kwon’s extradition to either the U.S. or South Korea, which was to be decided by a lower court.
The Supreme Court of Montenegro announced on April 5 that it had granted a motion for a stay of proceedings against an earlier ruling that would have permitted Kwon’s extradition to South Korea.
The request’s prosecutors contended that an appellate court had broken the law when it dismissed Kwon’s legal team’s appeal, leaving the Supreme Court with the last say.
In a scenario where there are conflicting requests from two states for the extradition of the same individual—as determined by the lower courts—the court must ascertain, within its authority, whether the defendant has complied with the legal requirements for extradition about each petition separately. Only then will the competent minister, not the court, decide on the extradition’s authorization and order of priority.
The Supreme Court stated that the High Court in Podgorica would hear the case again regarding Kwon’s extradition and determine whether to send the Terraform co-founder to the United States or his home country of South Korea.
Although there are criminal accusations against him in both countries, he has remained in Montenegro since his detention there in March 2023 due to the use of forged travel documents. According to reports, Kwon can still travel around Montenegro while the legal system considers his request for extradition.
Despite Kwon’s absence, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s attorneys proceeded with a jury trial against Terraform and the co-founder in March. Kwon has read a few of his prior remarks into the trial’s record. At the time of publishing, the case was still pending.
Kwon is still in Montenegro. However, Han Chang-joon, the former CFO of Terraform Labs, who was also detained in March 2023, was deported to South Korea. Hyun-seong Shin, the co-founder of Terraform Labs, is among the many people associated with the company that the South Korean authorities have charged.
