The ongoing saga involving Do Kwon, co-founder of Terraform Labs, has taken another twist as a court in Montenegro has once again overturned a previous ruling to extradite him to the United States.
According to an official statement, the Appellate Court of Montenegro declared on March 5th that the decision made by the High Court of Podgorica to approve Kwon’s extradition to the US had been annulled. The Appellate Court argued that the previous order by the High Court had been marred by “significant violations of the provisions of criminal procedure” under local laws.
The latest reversal by the Appellate Court is just another development in the lengthy extradition process that Kwon has been embroiled in since his arrest in Montenegro in March 2023. Both the US and South Korea have sought Kwon’s extradition, leading to heated debates over whether the Terraform Labs founder should be sent to his home country or not.
This is not the first time the Appellate Court of Montenegro has canceled the approval for Kwon’s extradition to either the US or South Korea. In December 2023, they argued that the case should be sent back to the Podgorica Basic Court for a retrial.
In November 2023, the High Court of Podgorica established the legal requirements for Kwon’s extradition, leaving the final decision in the hands of the Montenegrin Minister of Justice.
Terraform Labs is the company behind the Terra blockchain, which gained notoriety for its Terra stablecoin and the associated Luna token. However, both collapsed in May 2022 amid allegations of fraud. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has accused Terraform Labs and Kwon of orchestrating a fraudulent scheme that resulted in losses of at least $40 billion in the market.
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