According to CoinDesk, Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon has once more appealed the Montenegro High Court's decision to uphold extradition requests from the U.S. and South Korea. Kwon's lawyer, Goran Rodic, stated that local courts seem to be facing political pressure regarding Kwon's overseas transfer. In November, Kwon won an appeal to overturn the High Court's decision that the extradition requests were legally sound. However, on December 29, the same court decided that the requests were valid.
Rodic said, "We appealed again and now we are waiting for a new decision of the Court of Appeal." Following the collapse of Kwon's multi-billion dollar crypto enterprise Terraform Labs in May 2022, authorities in South Korea and the U.S. have brought criminal charges against him, including for fraud. Kwon and an associate were arrested in Montenegro last year for possession of falsified official documents and were sentenced to four months in prison. While Kwon serves his sentence in Montenegro, the country has to approve his extradition and decide the destination.
The new appeal was filed because the High Court's decision "drastically violates the provisions of the law, the European Convention on Extradition and the bilateral treaty with America on extradition," according to Rodic. He also mentioned that there seems to be political pressure on the court, all to the detriment of Do Kwon. Kwon's U.S. counsel has requested courts to delay a securities fraud trial against him so that he may attend in person. CoinDesk has reached out to the Montenegro High Court for comment.