Montenegro Court Cancels Approval for Kwon Do-hyung's Extradition

The Montenegro Court of Appeal overturned and remanded the approval for the extradition of Kwon Do-hyung, the former CEO of Terraform Labs and a key figure in the cryptocurrency ‘Terra·Luna’ crash incident.

On the 19th (local time), the Montenegro Court of Appeal accepted Kwon’s appeal and invalidated the Podgorica High Court’s decision that had previously approved Kwon’s extradition to South Korea or the United States.

The Montenegro Court of Appeal stated that the basis for the Podgorica High Court’s ruling last month to extradite the co-founder of Terraform Labs was unclear and that "there were serious violations in the criminal procedure."

The appellate court pointed out that while the High Court had heard Kwon’s opinion regarding South Korea’s extradition request, it did not hear his opinion concerning the U.S. extradition request.

Earlier, the Podgorica High Court approved Kwon’s extradition on the 24th of last month, and Kwon appealed against this decision.

On June 15, the Podgorica High Court issued a six-month detention order for Kwon due to the extradition procedure. Additionally, ahead of the detention period’s expiration on the 15th, the court extended the detention by two months citing concerns over flight risk.

However, since the Montenegro Court of Appeal pointed out procedural issues and remanded the case, the prevailing view is that the Podgorica High Court’s original decision approving the extradition is unlikely to be overturned.

If the High Court approves Kwon’s extradition again, the Minister of Justice of Montenegro, Milovi?, will decide the country to which Kwon will be sent.

In a local broadcast interview on the 23rd of last month, Minister Milovi? referred to the U.S. as "our most important foreign policy partner" regarding Kwon’s extradition. Foreign media introduced this interview and the confidential discussions between Minister Milovi? and the U.S. ambassador to Montenegro, predicting that the likelihood of Kwon being extradited to the United States has increased.