Andrew Tate and Brother Released From House Arrest in Romania

BUCHAREST, RUSSIA — Andrew Tate, the contentious online personality charged in Romania with rape, human trafficking, and organizing a criminal gang to sexually exploit women, won his appeal to be released from home arrest on Friday, according to his spokeswoman.

Tate will be barred from leaving the country. He will also be barred from being “in close proximity with any of the other defendants, any of the witnesses, or any of the alleged victims and their immediate family,” according to his spokesman, Mateea Petrescu.

“This positive outcome gives us confidence that more favourable developments are on the horizon,” added Petrescu.

The Bucharest Court of Appeal verdict came after prosecutors indicted Andrew Tate, 36, along with his brother Tristan and two Romanian women in the same case in June. All four were arrested near Bucharest in late December and disputed the allegations against them.

According to the court’s judgment, unless they obtain prior clearance from a judge, all four defendants will be subject to geographical restrictions limiting them to the territory of Bucharest Municipality and the surrounding Ilfov County.

On Friday, Andrew Tate told the media outside his spacious property outside Bucharest, “We’ve been completely innocent since the beginning of this.”

Andrew Tate, the contentious online personality charged in Romania with rape, human trafficking, and organizing a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.

“When I was thrown in a jail cell in January, the media reported and told the world I was a terrible person, that I hurt people and made a lot of money from criminal enterprises,” he added, “and here we stand seven or eight months later and I haven’t seen a single victim on the news.”

“I’ve seen a lot of people standing up for me, defending me, and I haven’t seen a single person stand up and say that I hurt them,” he continued.

According to the court reading, the accused can be recalled to home detention or preventive arrest if they break the terms of their judicial obligations.

The Tate brothers, dual British and American citizens, have challenged a July 18 court decision to keep them under house arrest while their criminal case proceeds. After three months in a police detention facility, the brothers won an appeal to be moved to home arrest in late March.

After filing its criminal inquiry, Romania’s anti-organized crime agency, DIICOT, sought in June that judges extend the house arrest measure.

Andrew Tate, the contentious online personality charged in Romania with rape, human trafficking, and organizing a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.

Andrew Tate, who has 7.5 million Twitter followers and has been accused of peddling conspiracy theories online, has frequently stated that authorities have no evidence against him and that there is a political conspiracy to suppress him.

DIICOT claims that in 2021, the four defendants created a criminal gang to “commit the crime of human trafficking” in Romania, the United States and the United Kingdom.

According to DIICOT, seven female victims were seduced with pretenses of love and brought to Romania, where the gang sexually exploited and physically abused them. According to the agency, one suspect was accused of raping a lady twice in March 2022. Prosecutors claimed the women were controlled by “intimidation, constant surveillance,” and debt claims.

Andrew Tate was previously barred from multiple popular social media platforms for expressing hate speech and misogynistic remarks, including that women should carry responsibility for sexual assault.

Several women in the United Kingdom also sought civil cases against Tate, alleging sexual assault.

Prosecutors have ordered the forfeiture of the Tate brothers’ assets, including 15 luxury cars, luxury watches, and over $3 million in bitcoin, while their investigations.

SOURCE – (AP)