Another pivotal moment occurred as the Higher Court in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, approved the extradition of Kwon Do-Hyung, the co-founder of Terraform Labs. However, according to a recent report, Do Kwon has filed an appeal against the court’s decision.
Do Kwon’s extradition decision under review
Reports from the Montenegrin Court on December 6, 2023, state that Do Kwon submitted an appeal to the court and stated, “I do not accept the court’s decision to extradite me, so I do not submit to the court’s ruling.” However, he is the sole individual responsible for the collapse of the $40 billion terraUSD, and he is also implicated in various illicit activities such as engaging in fraudulent trading, violating financial market laws, and more.
Following Do Kwon’s appeal, the Montenegro Court of Appeals must review the previously approved decision for extradition, causing a delay in the final ruling on Kwon Do-Hyung’s extradition, initially expected before December 15. By looking at this development it is clear that the decision regarding Kwon Do-hyung is not going to be easy.
On June 15, 2023, the court decided to detain Do Kwon for extradition for six months till December 15, 2023. However, with the recent appeal, the final decision on the destination country for extradition will remain in confusion.
Dual extradition approval raises questions
This appeal from Do Kwon appears two weeks after the Higher Court of Montenegro approved the extradition requested by both South Korea and the United States. However, the court stated that: “we have not decided whether to extradite him to Korea or the United States, and our Minister of Justice will make the final decision on the country of repatriation.”
Additionally, in a press release at the time, the court also stated that during the extradition trial in November, Kwon Do-hyung had expressed a preference to be extradited to Korea.
On the other hand, on December 1, 2023, Marija Rakovic, the press officer of the Higher Court of Montenegro made a statement that if an individual is involved in any extradition case similar to Do Kwon have the right to object to the court decision. Once the appeal is submitted to the court, it will reevaluated.
