Do Kwon’s South Korean extradition annulled by Montenegro Supreme Court

Another twist in the extradition saga of Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon revealed that the forgery convict will not return to his native South Korea just yet. 

The Supreme Court of Montenegro has revoked the ruling to extradite Terra’s Do Kwon back to his homeland of South Korea following an Appellate Court decision last month. According to today’s filings from Pobjeda, the case will return to the Podgorica High Court in the country’s capital for a new decision.

Do Kwon’s extradition to South Korea was overturned by a five-judge panel of the Supreme Court. Montenegro’s Court of Appeal previously found legal standing to support the “order of priority” argument fielded by South Korean authorities 

However, the justices, led by Supreme Court Judge Milenko Seka Žižić, ruled that the courts only have the right to determine whether extradition requirements were met. The ruling came after the Prosecutor General’s Office of Montenegro said Kwon’s approved extradition to South Korea was illegal.

“In a situation where it is a matter of competing requests from two states for the extradition of the same person, and not a conflict of requests for the extradition of the same person, as found by the lower courts, the court’s obligation is to determine, in accordance with its powers, whether the legal conditions for extradition are met of the defendant in relation to each petition individually, after which the competent minister, not the court, decides on the permission and order of priority of extradition.”

Supreme Court decision on Kwon’s extradition

Justice Ministry to decide Do Kwon’s fate

Montenegro’s Ministry of Justice said the Supreme Court’s ruling confirmed the correctness of its legal position in Do Kwon’s case, reaffirming that Minister of Justice Andrej Milović is the sole party with legal authority to decide where to extradite a person. 

Milović previously leaned towards sending Do Kwon to the U.S., where he faces prosecution for Terra’s $60 billion ecosystem and may likely face a longer prison sentence if found guilty. As crypto.news reported, authorities released Do Kwon from Spuž prison in late March after the Terra founder completed his sentence for travel paper forgery.

The Balkan nation continues to deliberate his extradition as the U.S. and South Korean governments request his deportation to pursue criminal prosecution.