An appellate court in Montenegro is revoking the extradition of disgraced Terra (LUNA) founder Do Kwon to the US and has ordered a retrial.
According to a new press release, an appeals court yesterday overturned the decision of the high court made late last year, which ruled that Kwon is to be extradited to both the US and South Korea for his alleged role in the multi-billion downfall of the Terra ecosystem.
In the new ruling, the appellate court judge ruled that since the old decision is “incomprehensible” and lacks “decisive facts,” it must be canceled. Furthermore, the first court never established the extradition orders properly, which is a requirement.
“It was stated that the court of first instance did not establish in an unquestionable way the order of arrival of the petitions of the Republic of South Korea and the United States of America, which is one of the criteria when deciding in terms of Article 26 of the aforementioned law, in the case when the extradition of the same person is requested by several countries.”
The original ruling, made in November, claimed that the legal requirements for extraditing Kwon to the US and South Korea – where he’s wanted for allegedly defrauding investors, market manipulation, and mishandling funds – were met.
As stated in the ruling at the time,
“It was established that the legal prerequisites for the extradition of the citizen of the Republic of South Korea, the defendant KDH (Do Kwon), were met, at the request of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Korea dated March 29, 2023…
The same decision establishes that the legal prerequisites for the extradition of the same defendant have been met, at the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United States of America.”
In December, authorities extended his custody period and ordered him to stay in the Balkan nation for at least another two months.
Kwon was arrested in Montenegro in June 2023 after attempting to board a flight to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with a forged Costa Rican passport.
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