Postponing Do Kwon's extradition to South Korea, the Council of the Montenegrin Supreme Court has handed down a verdict.
The counsel for the council claims that the solutions cited "violated the law" by attempting to extradite using a "shortened procedure" despite having already filed two such requests.
The Council has previously declared that the courts had overstepped their authority by absorbing the Minister of Justice's jurisdiction.
Also, Do Kwon will be freed from custody within one hour.
According to a court ruling from Montenegro, Terra executive Do Kwon is scheduled to be freed from home imprisonment. Following the formal confirmation by the country's Supreme Court, the South Korean citizen's passport has been canceled.
After the 2022 crash of the stablecoin TerraUSD (UST), which lost $40 billion, Kwon is sought on suspicion of involvement.
Specifically, according to reports from the Higher Court in Podgorica, the South Korean citizen will be ordered to have his travel papers revoked before he is allowed to leave the jail in Spuz on Saturday. This data suggests that, as a precautionary step, the court seized a legitimate passport.
Expulsion proceedings against Do Kwon halted awaiting decision by Supreme Court
It has been reported in local Montenegrin media that the verdict of the country's Supreme Court Council has delayed the extradition of Hyeong Do Kwon to South Korea. The highest state prosecutor has asked for the protection of legality, thus this is on hold until they hear back.
A request to postpone the implementation of the March 6 judgment of the Higher Court and the March 20 decision of the Court of Appeals was made to the Council of the Montenegro Supreme Court with the hope of protecting legality. The motion was approved.
"... it issued a decision ordering the postponement of the above-mentioned decision on the extradition of the defendant Kwon Do Hyeonga to the Republic of South Korea, at the request of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of South Korea, dated March 24, 2023, until the decision on the submitted request for the protection of legality is made," the Supreme Court said in a press release.
As part of its reasoning, the Council asked that the Podgorica Higher Court's (which has lower-level judges than the Supreme Court) and the Appellate Court's decisions be delayed until a ruling was reached on the application to safeguard legality.
With the request for the preservation of legality, the Council declared its intention to postpone the implementation of the March 6 judgment of the Higher Court and the March 20 decision of the Court of Appeals.
The motion basically says that lower-level courts have decided that all the legal requirements to send Do Kwon to South Korea have been satisfied. Further, it confirms that the defendant has agreed to a streamlined extradition process.
Case files pertaining to the prosecution's pursuit of legality
In a request for legality submitted before the Supreme Court on Thursday, the office of the Supreme State Prosecutor was involved. This came after the Court of Appeals affirmed the Higher Court's ruling in Podgorica, upholding the extradition of Kwon in summary procedures at South Korea's request and denying extradition at America's.
The fact that the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office's State Prosecutor was not heard by the Appellate Court during the appeal processes is another reason for the request for the preservation of legality. International Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters and the State Prosecutor's Office Laws are both violated by this.
The appellate court may only hear cases from the office of the supreme state prosecutor, according to the statute. Thus, it was an infringement of the criminal process, which was a factor in the legitimacy of the court's judgment.
To overturn the Court's ruling, the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office urged the Supreme Court to rule that the plea for protection of legality was valid.
Do Kwon's legal team lost their appeal before the Appeals Court on March 20, which meant that the March 6 ruling from the Higher Court in Podgorica stood.
Do Kwon's extradition to South Korea for prosecution on several charges was approved in summary processes by the High Court's first instance ruling, but the extradition was refused in summary proceedings by the US.
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