A court in Romania’s capital on Friday has ruled out a trial that can start in the case of influencer Andrew Tate, who has been charged with human trafficking, rape, and forming a criminal gang of sexually exploiting multiple women.
The Bucharest Tribunal ruled that the prosecutor’s case against Tate met the legal requirements but did not set a date for the trial to begin. Tate’s spokesperson, Mateea Petrescu, said they’ve appealed the ruling.
Tate, who is 37, was arrested in December 2022 near Bucharest along with his brother Tristian Tate and two women. Romanian prosecutors formally indicted all four in Junge last year. However, they’ve denied all allegations.
“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.”
Ahead of the court’s decision on Friday, the legal case had been discussed for months in the preliminary chamber stages, a process in which the defendant can challenge prosecutors’ evidence and case file.
“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,” said Ioan Gliga, another lawyer for the Tates. “Although they did not receive the necessary attention in the preliminary hearing, we are confident that the appeal court judge panel will support us.”
Andrew Tate, who has managed to amass 9.1 million followers on social media platform X, has repeatedly claimed that the prosecutors in Romania have no evidence against him and that it’s all just a political conspiracy to completely silence him.
Tate was also previously banned from various social media handles for his misogynistic views and hate speech. Both Tates are dual British-US citizens.
