Co-founder of Terra company of a high court in Montenegro Do Kwon ‘s decision approving his extradition to the United States or South Korea was annulled by the country’s Court of Appeals, according to a statement released Tuesday.
Terra’s former CEO was arrested in Montenegro on charges of possessing false official documents and sentenced to prison. The United States and South Korea had requested his extradition to face criminal charges related to the collapse of multibillion-dollar crypto company Terraform Labs in May 2022.
The Supreme Court of Podgorica ruled in November that the legal prerequisites for Kwon’s extradition were met. Tuesday’s ruling indicates that Kwon’s defense successfully appealed that decision. The Court of Appeal decided to remand the case to the Basic Court of Podgorica for retrial.
The Court of Appeals rejected the extradition order because the investigating judge did not hear defendant Kwon regarding the US extradition request, which is required by law.