Romanian court lifts judicial controls against Tate
A Romanian court lifted all preventive judicial control measures against internet celebrity Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan pending a criminal investigation on charges of human trafficking, among others.
In December 2022, Romanian anti-organized crime prosecutors detained the brothers for a criminal investigation and initially held them in police custody for months as a preventive pre-trial measure.
The Bucharest appeals court relaxed the measure of house arrest in 2023 and regular checks with the police thereafter.
The brothers, both former kickboxers with dual US and UK citizenship, have denied all wrongdoing.
On Monday, a Bucharest court decided to abolish the requirement for regular check-in.
The court said that the decision was final and could not be appealed.
“This verdict confirms what we have consistently maintained from the beginning; the case was built on questionable evidence,” Tates’ lead defense attorney, Eugene Vidineac, said in a statement. he said.
The Bucharest appeals court ruled against sending Tates to trial in 2024 and sent the case back to prosecutors after removing from the file much evidence “deemed inadmissible”, including the initial statements of the alleged victims.
Prosecutors are still investigating the first case, but in 2024 they opened a second criminal investigation into Tates and four other suspects on suspicion of forming an organized crime group, human trafficking, child trafficking, sexual intercourse with a minor and money laundering.
The brothers were required to contact the authorities regularly.
Anti-organized crime prosecutors declined to comment because they cannot discuss court decisions publicly.
“Today’s decision restores a fundamental principle: that freedom cannot be restricted without sound legal grounds. After nearly four years, the courts have begun to correct what should never have happened in the first place,” Vidineac said. he added.
The Tate brothers are among the top suspects facing human trafficking investigations in Romania.
A Romanian court ruled that the suspects also had arrest warrants in the United Kingdom and would be extradited after their trial in Romania was completed.
Andrew Tate has won millions of online fans by promoting an ultra-masculine lifestyle that critics say degrades women.
