A Bucharest court ruled on Friday that British-American influencer Andrew Tate can leave Romania but must remain in the European Union, where he faces trial on charges of setting up a criminal gang that trafficked people, raped and sexually exploited women, the Guardian reported. News letters.
Influenza spokeswoman Matia Petrescu hailed the Bucharest court's decision as “a major victory and a big step forward in the case.” However, it is unclear whether the plaintiffs can or will appeal the court's decision.
Tate, a former professional kickboxer, was arrested in December 2022 with his brother and two Romanian women near Bucharest. Romanian prosecutors officially They were indicted last June, but the four denied the charges.
Following Friday's decision, Tate reacted to the court's decision on X.
I am free. I can leave Romania for the first time in three years. The fantasy is collapsing.
Share his thoughts.
“We accept and applaud the court’s decision today, which I believe reflects the exemplary conduct and assistance provided by my client,” said Eugene Vidiniak, one of Tate’s lawyers, adding that the Tate family “remains determined to clear their names.”
On April 26, the Bucharest General Court ruled that the prosecutor’s case against Tate met the legal criteria and that the trial could begin, but did not set a date. The decision came after months of legal proceedings in the pre-trial chambers, a process in which defendants can challenge the prosecution’s evidence and the case file.
After the Tate brothers were arrested, they were held in police custody for three months and then placed under house arrest. Later, their movements were restricted to Bucharest and the neighboring Ilfov County, and then to Romania.
According to Vediniak, the ability to travel within the 27-nation EU bloc allows the Tets to “use their professional opportunities without restrictions.”
The influencer, who has 9.5 million followers, has repeatedly claimed that prosecutors have no evidence against him and that there is a political conspiracy to silence him. Tate has previously been banned from several social media platforms for allegedly expressing misogynistic views and using hate speech.
In another case, Andrew Tate was served with a civil suit from four British women at his home in Romania after the High Court in London granted a writ of manslaughter, according to a statement in May from law firm McCue Jury & Partners, which represents the women. The women allege that Tate sexually and physically assaulted them and reported him to British authorities in 2014 and 2015. After a four-year investigation, the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to bring charges in 2019.
In a third separate case, the Tate brothers also appeared before a Bucharest appeals court in March after British authorities issued arrest warrants for them on sexual assault charges in a British case dating back to 2012-2015. The appeals court granted a British request to extradite the Tate brothers to the UK, but only after the legal proceedings in Romania had concluded.
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