Do Kwon, the embattled co-founder and CEO of the blockchain firm Terraform Labs (TFL), will remain in detention in Montenegro, notwithstanding the fact that the country’s basic court has already accepted the bail proposal from the crypto executive’s legal team.
Following a major win in court last Friday, where a primary court accepted the bail requests of Kwon and his associate Han Chang-joon, Montenegrin prosecutors appealed the decision Wednesday, prompting the court to rule that both Kwon and his associate will remain in detention until the country’s High Court’s decision on the prosecutor’s appeal comes out.
The prosecutor’s latest appeal as well as the passport forgery case files will be forwarded by the Basic Court to the Montenegro High Court, which will make a decision on Kwon’s bail request.
Furthermore, the court ruled that Kwon and his associate will remain in detention until the end of the appeal proceedings and the court has made a decision on the bail.
Following the Basic Court’s decision last Friday, it also announced new bail conditions for the Terraform Labs co-founder and his associate to comply with the court including summons, surveillance and other measures, which were previously lacking in the previous bail conditions and were questioned by Montenegrin prosecutors.
The new bail conditions include considerations on the level of seriousness of the criminal offense, the defendants’ personal and family circumstances and the financial conditions of the persons paying for the bail, which in this case are the defendants’ wives.
The court will also look into the authenticity of the identity cards and travel documents of the TFL executives since Kwon’s lawyer claimed the CEO’s Costa Rican passport was obtained legally.
It is worth noting that this is the second time Kwon and his associate’s bail requests have reached the High Court.
It may be recalled that on May 12, the Basic Court first approved Kwon’s bail request but the prosecutors appealed the decision and the High Court overturned the initial court ruling on May 24.
The High Court, at the time, agreed with the concern raised by the prosecutors that the bail is not a guarantee that the defendants would not flee the country as soon as they are released from detention.
“The filed appeal postpones the execution of the decision on bail, so the defendant will remain in custody until the end of the appeal proceedings and the possible finality of the decision accepting the bail,” the Basic Court announced as reported by a local media outlet.
“The public and the media will be informed about the outcome of the second-instance proceedings through a press release on the website of the Basic Court in Podgorica,” it further said.
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