Do Kwon, the embattled co-founder and CEO of the blockchain firm Terraform Labs (TFL), is required to stay in Montenegro after the Appellate Court in the Balkan country accepted his appeal and revoked the High Court's approval of his extradition to the U.S. or South Korea.
Initially slated for extradition to either the U.S. or South Korea before Dec. 15, Kwon, who co-founded Terraform Labs in 2018, must now await the court's decision and prolong his stay in the country.
"The Appellate Court of Montenegro, after the session of the panel on Dec.14, issued a decision in which it accepted the appeal of the defense attorneys of the defendant Kwon Do Hyeong, annulled the decision of the Higher Court in Podgorica Kv.br .1045/23 dated Nov. 17 and sent the case back to the first-instance court for retrial and decision," the statement from the Appellate Court read.
Citing the lack of clear reasoning and issues in the legal process, the Appellate Court overturned and nullified the High Court's decision on Kwon's extradition, returning the case to the High Court of Podgorica for further review.
The South Korea's request for Kwon's extradition appeared to have been processed properly and the Terraform Labs CEO reportedly agreed to an expedited extradition process. The court, however, found procedural issues in how the investigating judge handled the request for extradition by the U.S.
Essentially, the Appellate Court noted that the judge failed to properly inform Kwon of the reasons and the evidence for the extradition request of the U.S., as well as invite him to provide his defense, which is required by law.
"The investigating judge heard the defendant on the request of the Republic of South Korea, who agreed to be extradited by summary procedure in relation to this request, while he did not hear the defendant in relation to the request for extradition to the USA , which was delivered to that court before its hearing," the statement read.
"In this way, the High Court acted contrary to Article 16 paragraph 8 of the Law on International Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, which stipulates that the investigating judge will inform the person whose extradition is requested, upon establishing his identity, without delay, for what reason and on the basis of which evidence it is requested his extradition and invite him to present his defense," the Appellate Court further said.
Earlier this month, the High Court in Podgorica decided to extend Kwon's detention until February 2024.
Prior to Kwon's extradition appeal, a report alleged that Montenegro's Justice Minister, Andrej Milovic, had already made the decision to send Kwon to the U.S. before it was publicly announced.
Milovic reportedly told officials in closed-door discussions of his plan to send Kwon to the U.S., especially when he met U.S. ambassador to Montenegro Judy Rising Reinke.
