The Detention Panel of the Constitutional Court unanimously rejected today the appeal against the Supreme Court's verdict in the case of South Korean citizen Do Kwon.
The announcement about that decision was published on the website of the Constitutional Court. The council consists of Momirka Tešić as the president of that body and judges Budimir Šćepanović and Faruk Resulbegović as members.
On September 19, the Supreme Court accepted the request for the protection of legality and changed the decisions of the High and Appellate Courts, finding that the conditions for extradition of Do Kwon to the United States of America (USA) were met. By the same verdict, the court decided to submit the case files to the Minister of Justice, Bojan Božović, in order to decide on the extradition permit.
Do Kvon's lawyer appealed against that verdict.
At its session in October, the High Court adopted a request to suspend the extradition of the South Korean crypto tycoon to that country or the US, at the choice of the Minister of Justice, until a final decision is made.
"The Constitutional Court concluded in its decision that according to the practice of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, which is accepted by the Constitutional Court, it is primarily up to domestic authorities, especially the courts, to solve the problems of interpretation of domestic laws. The Constitutional Court reiterates that it is not its task to take over the role of the courts , and determines the facts and interprets the law in specific court cases, but this is primarily the task of regular courts, the Constitutional Court will not question the determination of facts, evaluation of evidence and interpretation of the law by regular courts, except in the case of obvious. arbitrariness, when he notices that the conclusions of the regular courts had no legal basis, that is, that the regular courts applied the law in a certain case obviously wrongly or in such a way that they came to arbitrary conclusions and/or denied justice," the announcement reads.
"In the specific case, the Supreme Court, ruling on the request for the protection of legality, as a court that is competent under the Constitution to ensure uniform application of the law by the courts, gave its interpretation of the relevant norms in a situation where the defendant before the competent court consents to extradition in abbreviated in the procedure for multiple petitions, thus, by interpreting a legal gap (lacuna iuris), i.e. a legal uncertainty, applying a legal norm to a specific case, he created court practice", it is added.
They say that the Constitutional Court is not competent to impose a different opinion on the courts with its conclusion regarding the interpretation of the law, unless it is a question of an obvious violation of rights, which in this case does not exist, because the defendant gave his consent for extradition on both subpoenas and did not question it with any allegations that his extradition to any of the states would jeopardize a certain right, except that he believes that procedural irregularities were committed in terms of the interpretation of the law.
"Looking at the circumstances of the case as a single unit, the Constitutional Court concluded that the procedure, which preceded the constitutional court, was conducted in a way that ensured the applicant's right to a fair trial and did not call into question a possible violation of the right to family life, since the applicant is not "inhabited migrant" in Montenegro, that during the hearing he himself gave his consent for extradition under a shortened procedure to the Republic of South Korea and the United States of America, and on that occasion he did not emphasize family circumstances, and the circumstances of family life, i.e. separation from the family. This is one of the elements that, combined with other elements and circumstances from Article 26 of the Law on International Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, will be taken into account when deciding to which country he will be extradited in a situation where the competition of petitioners in relation to which the conditions for extradition are met and does not raise issues of a possible violation of the right to family life from Article 8 of the Convention," the statement reads.
He remains in the Reception Center until a decision on extradition is made
US and South Korean authorities have been investigating Do Kwon for his role in one of the biggest disasters in cryptocurrency history. In May 2022, the value of the two cryptocurrencies he created, TerraUSD and Luna, plunged, wiping $40 billion from the cryptocurrency market and setting off a chain reaction that pushed other digital crypto companies into bankruptcy, according to US media. Investors around the world lost their savings. The investigation concluded that Do Kwon had lied to investors and was suspected of hiding wealth.
Do Kwon and his business partner Han Cheng Jun were arrested on March 23 last year at the airport in Podgorica when they used forged passports during passport control on a flight to Dubai.
Do Kwon was sentenced to four months in prison in Montenegro - while the USA and South Korea began to insist on his extradition. After his release from the prison in Spuž on March 23, the police officers took Do Kwon to the inspector for foreigners, and then, after a five-hour interrogation, took him to the Reception Center for Foreigners. He will stay in that facility until the extradition decision is made.
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