The highest court in Montenegro decided on Friday to postpone the extradition of Do Kwon, co-founder of Terraform Labs, to South Korea pending clarification of prosecution complaints regarding the legality of the court’s extradition ruling.
This decision is rendered one day subsequent to the judge’s dismissal of Kwon’s appeal against his extradition to South Korea, stating that the ruling was conclusive and neither the Terra founder nor the United States could contest it in court once more.
The Office of the Supreme State Prosecutor released a statement on Thursday in which it contended that the court’s ruling exceeded the jurisdiction of its authority. The prosecutor asserted that the country’s minister of justice is the sole authority capable of determining where Kwon should be extradited.
A request previously submitted by the Supreme State Prosecution Office contesting the abbreviated process resulted in the court’s decision this month authorizing Kwon’s extradition to South Korea for prosecution on criminal charges associated with the demise of his multi-billion dollar cryptocurrency enterprise. Concerning the court’s extradition order, certain technical procedures were also contested by the nation’s chief prosecutor.
The decision effectively halts the ongoing tug-of-war between the United States and South Korea regarding Kwon. Both nations intend to prosecute Kwon on criminal charges, including fraud, in connection with the Terra ecosystem’s $40 billion collapse in May 2022.
