Do Kwon’s extradition from Montenegro has been delayed once again. Last week, the Balkan country’s appellate court made a decision to extradite Kwon to South Korea. However, Montenegro’s Supreme Court has postponed this decision at the request of the country’s Minister of Justice, Andrej Milović. This delay has been reported by local media outlets.
Montenegro is now at the center of a diplomatic dispute involving the co-founder of Terraform Labs. Both South Korea and the U.S. are seeking to prosecute Kwon for civil and criminal charges related to the collapse of the Terra/LUNA ecosystem, which amounted to $40 billion in losses in May 2022. Both countries have submitted competing extradition requests to Montenegro, where Kwon has been held since his arrest in March 2023 for using a fake Costa Rican passport while attempting to travel to Dubai.
Kwon is pushing to be tried in South Korea, where penalties for financial crimes are less severe. He successfully opposed earlier attempts to extradite him to the U.S. last year. However, Montenegro’s courts, prosecutors, and government officials are divided on which extradition request to honor.
Goran Radić, Kwon’s defense attorney in Montenegro, did not respond to requests for comment from CoinDesk. He told the Montenegrin newspaper Vijesti that the repeated delays and seven court decisions in Kwon’s case are a “judicial disgrace.” Radić also alleged that Milović had privately promised to extradite Kwon to the U.S. instead of South Korea, even though South Korea had submitted its extradition request first.
It was reported earlier this year by Bloomberg that Montenegro’s Prime Minister, Milojko Spajic, is a personal investor in Terraform Labs. This adds another layer of complexity to the situation.
In conclusion, the extradition of Do Kwon from Montenegro continues to face delays and uncertainties. The diplomatic tug-of-war between South Korea and the U.S., along with the involvement of high-ranking officials in Montenegro, has made this case highly complex and contentious. The future of Kwon’s extradition remains uncertain as the legal battle continues.