In the shadow of a dramatic international extradition controversy, Do Kwon, a notable figure in the South Korean cryptocurrency domain has been discharged from a detention facility in Montenegro. The move comes as a conflict simmers between the United States and South Korea, both of which seek his extradition.
Do Kwon’s freedom from incarceration comes at the end of a sentence for allegations of traveling under a false identity. Confirming his release, Darko Vukcevic, the warden of the prison, relayed the information via a telephonic communication. The decision to release Do Kwon came in response to the culmination of his standard jail term.
Kwon, who is a foreign national, had his travel documents seized, necessitating his extradition to the custody of the police bureau responsible for non-native individuals. This report comes courtesy of Bloomberg, citing the state television network of Montenegro.
Goran Rodic, the legal representative of Mr. Kwon, verified his client’s discharge and disclosed that Kwon’s passport is under official supervision to thwart any attempt to prematurely depart the country. Therefore, Kwon finds himself under the temporary care of a facility for foreign nationals awaiting the outcomes of legal proceedings.
Rodic also unveils plans to contest the court, advocating for Kwon’s liberty until a final decision concerning extradition is concluded.
The Supreme Court of Montenegro had previously suspended initial choices favoring extradition made by lower court judges. As a result, this has put the brakes on the attempts to move Mr. Kwon, the co-founder of the now-obsolete Terraform Labs, back to South Korea.
Kwon is viewed with suspicion in connection with the catastrophic failure of the TerraUSD (UST) algorithmic stablecoin in 2022, which led to a loss of approximately forty billion dollars.
News of Kwon’s release has sent the price of Terra (LUNA) into an upward curve, experiencing a rise of approximately 20%. Currently, each Terra unit trades approximately at $1.10, as quoted by the cryptocurrency value tracking website, CoinGecko. The numbers also represent a resurrected interest in Terra, seeing a weekly increase of 20% and a monthly improvement of 65%.
A 24-hour trading volume of approximately 407 million dollars has been reported, which represents a commendable growth of 283% compared to the preceding day’s figures.
The episode of Kwon’s contested extradition came to light with an objection raised by Montenegro’s lead prosecutor citing irregularities in the rulings in favor of South Korea’s extradition request.
The matter of Kwon’s extradition to the United States or South Korea remains in limbo, pending further judgment by the Supreme Court. So far, the court has not furnished any schedules concerning its impending decision, since the declaration of its interference.
