Exploring Do Kwon’s “New Home”: Overcrowded Balkanspaz Prison

Do Kwon's "New Home": Crowded Balkanspaz Prison

Author: Isabel Hunter & Ana Ćurić Translation: BlockingNews

Do Kwon, the co-founder and CEO of Terraform Labs, who once dominated the cryptocurrency industry, now breathes fresh air twice a day while living alone in a house filled with organized crime suspects awaiting trial.

According to Do Kwon’s lawyer Goran Rodic, he is being held in solitary confinement in a pre-trial detention area of a rundown prison in Montenegro and is not being held with other prisoners.

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Earlier this year, Do Kwon attempted to leave Montenegro via private plane using a Costa Rican passport, but was unsuccessful because his passport was deemed “fraudulently produced” by the prosecutor of the capital Podgorica court in Montenegro and was sentenced to four months in jail for forging his passport on June 19. So for the foreseeable future, the Spuz prison in the Balkan country of Montenegro will be Do Kwon’s “new home.”

Unveiling Spuz Prison

In 2022, Do Kwon was undoubtedly one of the most successful figures in the cryptocurrency industry, and the Terra blockchain ecosystem he created once reached a market capitalization of $60 billion. But now, Do Kwon leads a different life. Every day, prison guards give him two chances to leave his cell and stretch his legs in the yard of Spuz Prison, which is overcrowded and located about ten miles northwest of the Montenegrin capital Podgorica.

After being convicted of using a fake passport by a prosecutor, Do Kwon had to endure four months of detention, and his partner Han Chang-Joon was also arrested when trying to leave Montenegro and was not released either. In May 2022, Do Kwon was accused of fraud by prosecutors in Korea and the United States due to the Terra collapse, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. However, since Do Kwon had hidden Bitcoin in a Swiss bank, he had enough money to escape and has been hiding in Serbia and Montenegro for the past six months, successfully evading a red notice from Interpol.

In fact, if Montenegrin judicial officials extradite Do Kwon and his accomplices, they will be imprisoned for at least six months. Do Kwon’s lawyer revealed that Do Kwon is currently doing well and is emotionally stable, but the conditions in prison are very poor and not as easy as depicted in movies.

Figure: The gate of Spuz Prison, Montenegro

Spuz Prison is the largest prison in Montenegro, located in the Belopavlici Valley between Podgorica and Danilovgrad. Previously, incidents of prison guards beating prisoners have been exposed. In February of this year, hundreds of Spuz prison inmates went on an eight-day hunger strike to demand better conditions, protesting overcrowded cells, poor food quality and medical conditions.

Do Kwo enjoys privileges in Spuz Prison

According to Aleksandra Dubak, a legal advisor to Civic Alliance, a non-governmental organization responsible for overseeing Montenegrin prisons, Spuz Prison is home to several of the Balkan region’s most combative mafia family members, as well as a group of gangsters who have been charged with murder, bombing, extortion and operating international drug smuggling. According to local media reports, the gang violence in Spuz Prison is very serious, and the authorities have had to increase surveillance to ensure that gang members do not interact with each other.

Aleksandra Dubak further explained that Spuz Prison officials and members of hostile gangs are placed in different areas of the prison to minimize contact and prevent violence. However, this has led to problems such as uneven allocation of prison space and overcrowding. At the beginning of the year, a pre-trial detention center in Spuz prison, which could accommodate 292 people, actually held 380 inmates.

However, unlike most other inmates, Do Kwon has a single cell.

Aleksandra Dubak explained, “Spuz prison has had overcrowding problems for many years, but if prisoners can have single cells, there must be special reasons, perhaps due to health conditions, or the existence of serious violence risks or other special requirements.”

Do Kwon’s lawyer, Goran Rodic, seems unconcerned about his client’s life in prison and stated that it is too early to talk about appealing the forgery conviction, and that their focus now is on preparing the examination of the extradition case. Meanwhile, Goran Rodic revealed that as of Tuesday of this week (June 20), Do Kwon had not yet received the extradition documents.

Do Kwon’s extradition request or triggering unrest in Montenegro’s political circles?

In fact, as early as March 29, Montenegrin Justice Minister Marko Kovac revealed during a press conference on Do Kwon’s extradition issue that local judges would consider all factors, including the severity of the criminal offense, the location of the criminal offense, the order in which extradition requests were received, and the person’s citizenship and other circumstances.

However, a spokesperson for the High Court of Montenegro confirmed that Do Kwon will continue to be detained in the country while considering South Korea’s extradition request. It is worth mentioning that Do Kwon and his associates initially offered to pay a “six-figure” bail and were allowed by the judge, but the decision was overturned after the prosecution appealed.

According to local media reports, Do Kwon has close ties to a Montenegrin party called “Europe Now,” founded by cryptocurrency-friendly politician Milojko “Mickey” SBlockingjić. The Montenegrin government claims that Do Kwon is connected to Milojko “Mickey” SBlockingjić, and that he even wrote a letter to outgoing Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic while in prison, revealing that he and Milojko “Mickey” SBlockingjić are business partners.

It is reported that opponents of “Europe Now” have requested that the Montenegrin Special Prosecutor’s Office investigate Do Kwon’s letter to Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic, but the “Europe Now” party seems to have ignored these actions, claiming that someone is using Do Kwon and Milojko “Mickey” SBlockingjić’s relationship for political attacks.

Not only that, but in the latest Montenegrin parliamentary elections, the “Europe Now” party won a quarter of the seats, and they have started seeking to form a coalition government with other parties in Montenegro, which means that Milojko “Mickey” SBlockingjić, the leader of the “Europe Now” party, is likely to become the highest position in the next Montenegrin government – the prime minister.

It is reported that, given the complex background behind this case, the Montenegrin Special Prosecutor’s Office has decided to launch an investigation into Do Kwon and Milojko “Mickey” SBlockingjić’s relationship, and the next hearing will be held on Friday local time.

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