A High Court of Podgorica, Montenegro’s capital, ruled to reject South Korea’s request to extradite Do Kwon to his home country for criminal prosecution, per local media outlet Pobjeda. 

Kwon’s defense attorney, Goran Rodić, previously cited the European Convention on Extradition and Montenegrin Law on Internationa Legal Assitance to support arguments for South Korean extradition. 

However, Justice Minister Andrej Milović reportedly once said the decision was political, with a bilateral extradition agreement between the U.S. and Montenegro playing a major role in the process. 

Do Kwon to attend Terra trial

The decision follows Do Kwon’s Feb. 8 victory in the Court of Appeals. His extradition had been revoked and returned to the High Court for processing. With Kwon’s removal from Montenegro seemingly settled, the U.S. will have nearly two months to extradite him to be present for the SEC v. Terraform Labs case.

Terra’s court case was delayed until Apr. 15 after a request from Kwon and an agreement with the SEC to postpone proceedings. The former cryptocurrency billionaire and his blockchain firm are accused of defrauding customers and investors in Terra’s ecosystem crash. 

In South Korea, Terra is also being investigated for criminal operations as a former company developer testified that Kwon knew his project was legally problematic. South Korean authorities also secured extradition rights for Kwon’s former chief financial officer, Han Chang-Joon.

Chang-Joon was extradited on Feb. 5, but it’s unclear what litigation he might face or when authorities will arraign him. 

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