By Stephen McGrath and Andreea Alexandru
Bucharest: A court in Romania’s capital has ruled that a trial can start in the case of divisive influencer Andrew Tate, who is charged with human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.
The Bucharest Tribunal ruled that prosecutors’ case file against Tate, 37, met the legal criteria for a trial. The case has been discussed for months in the preliminary chamber stages, a process in which the defendants can challenge prosecutors’ evidence and case file.
Tate, 37, who has amassed 9.1 million followers on the social media platform X, was arrested in December 2022 near Bucharest along with his brother, Tristan Tate, and two Romanian women. Romanian prosecutors formally indicted all four in June last year. They have denied the allegations.
Andrew Tate, left, and his brother Tristan wait inside the Court of Appeals building in Bucharest, Romania, in January.Credit: AP
He was previously banned from various prominent social media platforms for expressing misogynistic views and for hate speech. Both Tates are dual British-US citizens.
Andrew Tate has repeatedly claimed that prosecutors in Romania have no evidence against him and that there is a political conspiracy to silence him.
The court did not set a date for the trial to begin. Tate’s spokesperson, Mateea Petrescu, said the ruling has been appealed.
“The ruling issued by the preliminary chamber judge lacks legal basis and reasoning,” Eugen Vidineac, one of the brothers’ lawyers, said after the decision. “We have filed a strong appeal as we believe the ruling to be unlawful.”
Ioan Gliga, another lawyer for the Tates, said : “We reassert our belief in the fairness of the arguments we presented during the preliminary hearing and in the memoranda concerning the legality of the criminal investigation. Although they did not receive the necessary attention in the preliminary hearing, we are confident that the appeal court judge panel will support us.”
After the Tates and the two women were arrested, the DIICOT anti-organised crime agency said in a statement that it had identified six victims in the human trafficking case who were subjected to “acts of physical violence and mental coercion” and were sexually exploited by members of the alleged crime group. The agency said victims were lured with pretences of love, and later intimidated, placed under surveillance and subjected to other control tactics while being coerced into engaging in pornographic acts for substantial financial gain.
Last month, the Bucharest Tribunal extended geographical restrictions against Andrew Tate, a former professional kickboxer, stipulating he could not leave the country. Tate had requested that he be able to travel within the European Union with the prior approval of a judge.
After the brothers’ arrest, they were held for three months in police detention before being moved to house arrest. They were later restricted to Bucharest Municipality and nearby Ilfov County, but can now travel freely around Romania.
Also last month, the brothers appeared at the Bucharest Court of Appeal in a separate case, after British authorities issued arrest warrants over allegations of sexual aggression in a UK case dating back to 2012-2015.
The appeals court granted the British request to extradite the Tates to the UK, but only after legal proceedings in Romania have concluded.
AP