Court Says Social Media Influencer Andrew Tate Can Leave Romania But Remain In EU As He Awaits Trial

BUCHAREST, Romania — A court in Romania’s capital ruled Friday that social media celebrity Andrew Tate may leave Romania but must remain in the European Union while awaiting trial on charges of human trafficking, rape, and creating a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.

Mateea Petrescu, Tate’s spokesman, described the Bucharest Tribunal’s decision to allow the 37-year-old to leave the country as a “significant victory and a major step forward” in the case. It’s unclear whether prosecutors can or will appeal the court’s judgment.

Tate, a former professional kickboxer and dual British-American citizen, was detained in December 2022 near Bucharest with his brother Tristan and two Romanian women. Romanian authorities formally accused all four in June of last year, and they have all disputed the claims.

Andrew Tate | AP News Image

Court Says Social Media Influencer Andrew Tate Can Leave Romania But Remain In EU As He Awaits Trial

Following Friday’s decision, Tate tweeted on the social networking platform X, “I AM FREE. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 3 YEARS, I WILL BE ABLE TO LEAVE ROMANIA. THE SCAM CASE IS FALLING APART.”

“We embrace and applaud the court’s decision today, I consider it a reflection of the exemplary behavior and assistance of my clients,” said Eugen Vidineac, one of Tate’s lawyers, adding that the Tates are “still determined to clear their name and reputation.”

On April 26, the Bucharest Tribunal determined that the prosecutors’ case file against Tate met the legal conditions and that a trial could commence, but no date was established. That decision came after the legal matter had been argued for months in the preliminary chamber stages, which allow defendants to contest prosecutors’ evidence and case files.

Following their arrest, the Tate brothers were detained in police custody for three months before being released to house arrest. They were then restricted to Bucharest municipality, the neighboring Ilfov county, and then to Romania.

Vidineac stated that the option to travel inside the 27-nation EU bloc will enable the Tates to “pursue professional opportunities without restriction.”

Andrew Tate, who has 9.5 million followers on the social networking platform X, has consistently stated that authorities have no evidence against him and that there is a political conspiracy to silence him. He has already been banned from several social media networks for allegedly expressing misogynistic views and engaging in hate speech.

In a separate matter, Andrew Tate was served with a civil complaint filed by four British women after a claim was issued by the High Court in London, according to a May statement from McCue Jury & Partners, the law firm representing the four women.

Andrew Tate | AP News Image

Court Says Social Media Influencer Andrew Tate Can Leave Romania But Remain In EU As He Awaits Trial

Tate allegedly sexually and physically assaulted the four, and they denounced him to British police in 2014 and 2015. Following a four-year inquiry, the Crown Prosecution Service declined prosecuting him in 2019. The alleged victims then used crowdfunding to file a civil action against him.

In a separate third case, the Tate brothers appeared in March at the Bucharest Court of Appeal after British authorities issued arrest warrants for alleged sexual aggression in a 2012-2015 U.K. case.

The appeals court granted the British request to extradite the Tates to the United Kingdom, but only after the legal proceedings in Romania were completed.

SOURCE – (AP)