'Tera·Luna Crash' Kwon Do-hyung's Side: "If the Minister of Justice Decides Everything, Why Do We Need Courts?"

On the 26th (local time), Kwon Do-hyung's side, a key figure in the 'Terra·Luna' incident, requested the Supreme Court of Montenegro to dismiss the Prosecutor General's Office's petition for a legality judgment. Kwon was scheduled to be extradited to Korea by the decision of the High Court of Montenegro, but the Prosecutor General's Office has put a brake on this, stating that "the authority to decide on the extradition of criminals lies with the Ministry of Justice."

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According to the Montenegrin daily Vijesti, Goran Rodic, Kwon's local legal representative, stated in a press release on the day, "The Prosecutor General's Office's petition is unacceptable, illegal, and baseless." He criticized, "The prosecution wants to hand over Kwon Do-hyung to the 'famous' Minister of Justice at any cost," and questioned, "If everything is placed under the authority of the Minister of Justice, then why is the court necessary?"

The Prosecutor General's Office of Montenegro raised objections to the Supreme Court on the 21st, pointing out issues of legality. They argued that the decision on the extradition of criminals is the exclusive authority of the Minister of Justice, but the court ignored this authority and decided on extradition to Korea. In response, the Supreme Court temporarily suspended Kwon's extradition to Korea and began a legal review. Kwon, who was scheduled to be extradited to Korea after his release on the 23rd, was transferred to a foreign detention center until the Supreme Court's decision.

In the United States, the trial without Kwon has begun. According to Bloomberg, Devon Staren, an attorney for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), stated at the civil trial held on the 25th at the Southern District Court of New York, "Terra was a fraud and a house of cards, and when it collapsed, investors lost almost everything." Kwon's attorney, David Patton, argued that Kwon never portrayed cryptocurrency as completely risk-free.

Currently, Korea and the United States are competing over Kwon's extradition. Kwon's side hopes for extradition to Korea, where sentences for economic crimes are lighter than in the U.S. However, if the Supreme Court accepts the Prosecutor General's Office's petition and rules that the Minister of Justice should decide the country of extradition, it is highly likely that Kwon will be sent to the United States. Minister of Justice Andrija Milovic has publicly expressed his intention to extradite Kwon to the U.S. on several occasions.

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