A Bucharest court has moved to try Andrew Tate, the Anglo-American social media influencer, who has been charged with rape, human trafficking, and running a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.
Tate, 37, and his brother Tristan were arrested in December 2022. Both men were indicted last June, along with two Romanian women alleged to have been their accomplices. The accused have denied all charges and challenged the indictment.
However on Friday, the Bucharest Tribunal ruled it would allow the case to go forward, without setting a trial date. L
awyers for the Tate brothers have criticized the decsion to go to trial.
“The ruling issued by the preliminary chamber judge lacks legal basis and reasoning,” said Eugen Vidineac, “We have filed a strong appeal as we believe the ruling to be unlawful.”
Another attorney, Ioan Gliga, told AP that the arguments challenging the criminal investigation and the indictments “did not receive the necessary attention in the preliminary hearing,” but that the Tates’ defense was confident that the appeals court will rule in their favor.
The brothers were jailed for three months before being moved to house arrest. Since then, the courts have allowed them to move around Romania but denied their petition to travel within the EU.
Last month, Romania agreed to extradite the Tates to the UK over allegations of “sexual aggression” dating back to 2012-2015, but only after the domestic legal proceedings have concluded.