Do Kwon, co-founder of Terra, has his extradition to South Korea, his home country, contested and blocked. The Supreme Prosecutor of Montenegro, where Kwon has been in custody since March 2023, is appealing the decision.
Do Kwon: extradition to South Korea contested by the Supreme Prosecutor of Montenegro
According to what is reported, it seems that Do Kwon, co-founder of Terra, is awaiting a verdict on his extradition from Montenegro, where he has been in custody since March 2023.
Specifically, the Office of the Supreme Prosecutor of Montenegro stated that the decision of the High Court to extradite Kwon to South Korea instead of the United States, with the subsequent confirmation by the appellate court, was made through “expedited proceedings” that exceeded its powers.
Basically, Montenegro was inadvertently placed at the center of a showdown between the United States and South Korea a year ago, when Kwon and his colleague, Han Chang-joon, were arrested and imprisoned for attempting to use fake Costa Rican passports to travel to Dubai.
Kwon’s arrest occurred six months after Interpol issued a “red notice” for his arrest and 10 months after the $40 billion implosion of his company, Terraform Labs, and the Terra ecosystem.
Kwon must answer to criminal charges in both the United States and South Korea, but he has been fighting extradition since his arrest, appealing to different court decisions with varying degrees of success.
Do Kwon and his uncertain extradition to South Korea
At the moment, therefore, the Supreme Prosecutor of Montenegro seems to have managed to block the extradition to South Korea of Do Kwon, through his appeal and his challenge.
Meanwhile, however, since February 2024, Kwon’s colleague, Han has already been extradited to South Korea.
In this regard, Montenegrin lawyer Goran Rodic reportedly stated that Kwon will likely be extradited to South Korea after March 23. Now, this timing, as well as Kwon’s final destination, is once again uncertain.
Anyway, the decision on Kwon’s extradition authorization is solely up to the country’s Minister of Justice.
Extradition revocation in the USA for the third time
While now the destination seems to be South Korea, in early March 2024, Do Kwon had managed to have the extradition decision to the USA revoked for the third time.
Kwon’s defense lawyers would have filed several appeals and appeals against the decision, to the point that the Court of Appeal of Montenegro would have again overturned the decision of his extradition to the USA.
As motivation, the Court of Appeal of Montenegro would have spoken of problems in the process and lack of clarity.
The present victory of Do Kwon, has been added to the other two on December 14th and February 8th.