BUCHAREST – Andrew Tate, the divisive social media personality and former professional kickboxer accused in Romania of rape, human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women, has an appeal on Thursday against a court’s earlier decision to find him to keep under house arrest, his spokesman said.
The Bucharest Court of Appeal ruled against Tate’s appeal, which challenged a court’s appeal June 23 decision to extend the house arrest measure for a further 30 days while the criminal proceedings continue.
This decision was taken days after Romania’s anti-organized crime agency DIICOT has officially charged the 36-year-old social media star along with his brother Tristan and two Romanian women in the same case. All four were initially arrested near the Romanian capital at the end of December and denied the allegations against them.
Ahead of the appeals court’s final decision on Thursday, two judges disagreed on whether or not the house arrest measure should be maintained, so a third judge was assigned to rule.
Tate brothers’ spokeswoman Mateea Petrescu said the judges’ initial decision was not unanimous and that it gives hope, even if they lost the appeal, because for the first time since their arrest, “a judge has ruled that the brothers should be allowed to move freely and without restrictions in Romania.”
“We consider this a major step towards the rightful exoneration of Andrew and Tristan,” she said, adding that while the brothers “have suffered significant reputational damage, they remain optimistic and continue to have faith in the Romanian judicial system.”
In June, DIICOT asked judges to extend the house arrest measure after the agency opened its investigation. According to Romanian law, judges have 60 days to decide whether to refer the case to trial, but it often takes longer.
Tate, who has been accused of spreading conspiracy theories online and has 7 million Twitter followers, has repeatedly claimed that prosecutors have no evidence against him and that there is a political conspiracy aimed at silencing his views .
“Very strange that one judge can think the file is garbage and should be dismissed,” read a post on Andrew Tate’s Twitter account following the court decision, “and another believes your liberty should be permanently deprived.” Based on the same file? I’ll let you speculate… I haven’t been outside in seven months.”
The Tate brothers, who have dual UK and US citizenship, won an appeal against the move on March 31 house arrest after spending three months in police custody.
DIICOT alleges that the four defendants formed a criminal organization in 2021 “to commit the crime of human trafficking” in Romania, as well as in the United States and Britain.
According to DIICOT, the case involves seven female victims who were lured with fake love and trafficked to Romania, where the gang subjected them to sexual exploitation and physical violence. According to the authority, a defendant is accused of raping a woman twice in March 2022. The women were allegedly controlled Through “intimidation, constant surveillance” and claims they were in debt, prosecutors said.
Andrew Tate was previously banned from several prominent social media platforms for making hate speech and misogynist comments, including one that said women should bear responsibility for sexual assault.
Several women in the UK are also suing Tate for civil damages for being victims of sexual violence.
As part of their investigation, prosecutors ordered the confiscation of the Tate brothers’ assets, which included 15 luxury cars, luxury watches and approximately $3 million in cryptocurrencies.
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Stephen McGrath reported from Sighisoara.
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