A Montenegrin court has accepted a 400,000-euro ($428,000) bail request from Terra founder Do Kwon after a higher court annulled a previous approval, according to a Friday announcement. In March, Kwon and former Terra executive Han Chang-joon were arrested in Montenegro for allegedly attempting to travel with falsified documents. South Korea and the U.S. have requested Kwon’s extradition to face criminal charges following his trial in Montenegro.
The basic court in the capital city of Podgorica had already approved a bail request from Kwon’s lawyers for the same amount, but it was annulled after prosecution appealed the decision. The higher court found that the first approval was not based on a sound assessment of the defendants’ property based on concrete evidence. The court said in Friday’s statement, The court appreciated the fact that they are persons who are not Montenegrin citizens, which is why it accepted their statements about the value of the property they own, which were supported by concrete evidence.
The case also requires authorities in Belgium to verify the authenticity of travel documents Kwon and Han had in their possession, and the accused could face a prison sentence of up to five years. The court said a sum of 400,000 euros cannot represent an insignificant part of their property. The two South Korean nationals are due back in court on June 16. The prosecution has three days to appeal the bail decision.