The whole saga around Do Kwon’s extradition from Montenegro to South Korea has hit another snag.
The Supreme Court has decided to delay his extradition until they decide on a legality request raised by the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office. Yeah, it’s another twist in this never-ending drama.
So, here’s the deal. The Supreme Court’s council had a meeting and came out with a resolution to hold off on the decisions made by the High Court in Podgorica and the Court of Appeals.
They’re waiting until the Supreme Court can give a verdict on this legality request.
The statement was pretty clear about this, saying the delay will last until the Supreme Court makes its decision, and they’ll do this within the legal time frame.
Prosecutor’s office steps in
Now, this all started because the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office filed a request on August 2. They’re challenging the decision to extradite Do to South Korea.
The day after the Court of Appeals confirmed the High Court’s decision to send Do back, this request landed on the Supreme Court’s desk, stopping the police and Ministry of Justice from carrying out the extradition right away.
The Prosecutor’s Office wants the Supreme Court to look into whether the decisions by the High Court in Podgorica and the Court of Appeals are legal.
They’re also pushing for Do to be sent back to South Korea, not the US. A spokesperson said:
“On August 2, the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office filed a request for the protection of legality before the Supreme Court of Montenegro against the decisions of the High Court in Podgorica and the Court of Appeals in this case, due to violations of the Law on International Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters.”
Defense attorney’s take
Do’s defense lawyer, Goran Radić, isn’t too happy with this whole delay. He told us that:
“We expect that in accordance with the final court decision, Do Do will be extradited to South Korea in the coming days.”
He also pointed out that changing a final decision in favor of the accused isn’t possible unless there’s abuse of power. Radić said:
“Since the final decision cannot be legally altered, there’s no point in delaying its execution. The Supreme Court can discuss this matter in regular proceedings for future reference.”
He reminded us that when the High Court first decided to extradite Do to the US, the Prosecutor’s Office didn’t object. It was all fine and dandy for them.
But once that decision was overturned due to false information from the Justice Minister, and a new decision allowed Do’s extradition to South Korea, the Prosecutor’s Office suddenly came up with a new legal theory.
Radić believes that :
“What matters is fulfilling the minister’s illegal private promise to extradite Do.”
He called the seven court decisions on this extradition case a judicial embarrassment. However, he did give a nod to the Court of Appeals for their consistent and lawful decision-making.
The crypto scandals
South Korea and the US both want Do for massive cryptocurrency fraud, involving at least $40 billion. Investors took a huge hit with the collapse of his cryptocurrencies, Luna and UST.
Do has been stuck in a detention center for foreigners, waiting for this whole mess to sort out. He was arrested in March 2023 at Podgorica airport with his business partner, Chang Jun, while trying to flee to Dubai with fake passports.
Montenegrin courts have been all over the place with their decisions on the extradition requests from the US and South Korea.
First, the High Court decided to extradite him to the US. Then, that decision got overturned, and a new one approved his extradition to South Korea. This back-and-forth has happened seven times already.
And if that’s not enough, Do’s name is also tied to several scandals and political fights between former Prime Minister Dritan Abazović and current Prime Minister Milojko Spajić over the past year and a half.
