Montenegro’s Court of Appeal issued a final ruling rejecting Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon’s appeal against extradition to Korea. After March 23, Terra founder Do Kwon is expected to be extradited from Montenegro to South Korea to answer criminal charges related to the collapse of his cryptocurrency business. Both the United States and South Korea have requested his extradition, and a decision on his destination has now been confirmed by Montenegrin officials.
Montenegro rejects Kwon Do-kwon’s extradition appeal
Montenegro’s Court of Appeals officially announced Wednesday that it has rejected Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon’s effort to overturn the approval of his extradition to South Korea. Previously, the Balkan Peninsula’s High Court decided that Kwon would be extradited to South Korea in May 2022 to face charges related to the cryptocurrency company’s bankruptcy, but his attempt to appeal was unsuccessful.
Mr. Do-kwon’s lawyer, Goran Rodic, announced that the decision to extradite was confirmed and any further appeals by Mr. Do-kwon or the United States were blocked. Currently, the repatriation schedule is unclear. The U.S. Department of Justice has not yet commented on the matter.
The notice reads, “The appellate court judged that the first trial judgment that the Republic of Korea’s claim arrived earlier than the order of arrival was correct in the defendant’s lawyer’s appeal hearing.” We have properly evaluated this and other criteria at the request of the United States.”
Destination in the metropolitan area after March 23rd
Mr. Kwon is currently detained in Montenegro and is serving a four-month sentence for document forgery. According to Kwon’s Montenegrin lawyer, Goran Rodic, he is expected to be extradited to South Korea after this sentence ends.
“This decision is consistent with the evidence in the case file,” Rodic said. Mr. Kwon’s sentence ends on March 23 and he is scheduled to be extradited thereafter. “That’s all the information we can get at the moment.”
Nevertheless, the United States plans to continue to challenge the Montenegrin court’s decision to extradite Terraform Labs co-founder Kwon Do-hyun to South Korea. Since the fall of Terra in mid-2022, international organizations such as Interpol have been closely monitoring Mr. Kwon. Terra’s collapse resulted in the loss of billions of dollars in investor funds, and Mr. Kwon escaped to Montenegro.