In a dramatic turn of events, the Appellate Court of Montenegro has once again shown up in the ongoing Do Kwon extradition battle.
The Terraform Labs co-founder's journey through the legal system has been a rollercoaster ride, and this recent ruling adds another layer of complexity to the process.
It turns out that Kwon won't be getting dragged down to the US after all, after more than one extradition approval.
Back in March 2023, Do Kwon was arrested in Montenegro after the collapse of the TerraUSD and Luna in May 2022, where billions of dollars were wiped off the market in less than a week.
Do Kwon was later arrested in Montenegro after allegedly trying to flee to the UAE with a fake passport and other documents
Following his arrest, he has been charged by a US federal grand jury with eight counts, including securities fraud, commodities fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy.
The US wants Kwon to come over and face the music for his crimes—but so does his home country, South Korea.
In a previous ruling on 20 February, the High Court of Montenegro ruled in favour of sending Kwon to the US rather than South Korea, and this was set to be the end of Kwon's legal battles.
Or so we thought.
This week, on 5 March, the Appellate Court of Montenegro stepped in and cancelled the 20 February extradition approval.
The court ruled that the "Significant violations of the provisions of criminal procedure" had affected the initial decision by the High Court in Podgorica.
Moreover, the Appellate Court also noted that the U.S. extradition request letter was not properly translated before the initial ruling and that there was no strong evidence to support the fraud charges against Kwon.
So far, the Appellate Court has ordered the case to be sent back to the High Court for a new review, meaning that Kwon may have escaped another extradition date, and has more time to prepare his legal defence.
This now stands as the second time that the Appellate Court has annulled the High Court's decision on Kwon, with the first time being in December 2023 because of similar procedural flaws.
Kwon welcomed the Appellate Court's ruling and expressed his hope that he would be able to clear his name and resume his work on the Terra project. He also thanked his supporters and lawyers for their efforts and assistance.
According to the charts, LUNA exploded upwards on March 5, right around the time of the Do Kwon extradition ruling, as shown below:
Luna even broke above its previous local high of around $1.28 and managed to hit the $1.55 high.
However, right after Bitcoin's flash crash, LUNA declined beneath this local high and now trades at around $1.1215.
However, the Bears may not have won yet.
We still have to see a break below the $1 support (as well as a death cross between the $25 and 99-day EMAs) to confirm a bearish takeover and a possible decline to around $0.56.
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