The extradition of Terraform Labs founder, Do Kwon to South Korea has been met with complications following the request by the United States to have him. About a month ago, the Balkan high court ruled that Do Kwon could be extradited to the Republic of South Korea to face the criminal charges he’s accused of following the collapse of this cryptocurrency enterprise.
The Appellate Court of Montenegro has officially rejected the appeal made by Do Kwon’s defense attorneys by upholding the previous decision made earlier by the High Court in Podgorica on March 3rd, 2024.
The court asserted its ruling that Do Kwon can be extradited to South Korea for the purpose of criminal prosecution for several criminal offenses at the request of the Republic of South Korea. Interestingly, the same ruling refused summary extradition of the defendant at the request of the United States.
The panel at the court of appeal approved the high court’s initial determination that the Republic of South Korea made an earlier request to have Do Kwon extradited. Despite several other requests by other countries including the United States, the panel determined that according to Article 26 of the Law on International Legal Assistance, the accused should be extradited to the Republic of South Korea according to the order of arrival.
Despite the ruling, there are no stated timelines as to when he might be extradited. However, the ruling is now final and countries in contention are no longer able to appeal the final decision by the Appellate Court.
What’s Next for Do Kwon and the U.S Justice System
Do Kwon was arrested earlier in Montenegro. He, however, managed to appeal high court rulings and secure his extradition to the US. However, the rulings were later thwarted by the Court of Appeal citing the high court decisions were not entirely legal.
Despite the seeming finality of this matter, it is prudent to assume the tussle isn’t over and the Justice Department of the United States will continue to seek Do Kwon’s extradition to the United States.
The continued tussle between the US Justice Department and the Court evokes different sentiments within the crypto space. Despite the legal differences, it is important for crypto investors to feel protected by governments against all forms of fraud within the nascent web3 space.