Romanian court lifts judicial controls against Andrew Tate, pending investigation

BUCHAREST, April 6 (Reuters) - A Romanian court on Monday lifted all preventative judicial control measures against internet personality Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan pending a criminal ​investigation on accusations of human trafficking, among others.

In December 2022, Romanian ‌anti-organized crime prosecutors detained the brothers for a criminal investigation, initially holding them in police custody for months as a preventative pre-trial measure. The Bucharest court of appeals relaxed the measure to ​house arrest in 2023 and later to regular check-ins with the police.

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The brothers, both ​former kickboxers with dual U.S. and British citizenship, have denied all wrongdoing.

On ⁠Monday, the Bucharest court ruled to remove the obligation of regular check-ins. The ​ruling is final and cannot not be appealed, the court said.

“This decision confirms what ​we have argued consistently from the beginning, the case was built on questionable evidence,” the Tates’ lead defence lawyer Eugene Vidineac said in a statement.

The Bucharest court of appeals ruled against sending the ​Tates to trial in 2024 and sent the case back to prosecutors after removing several ​pieces of evidence that were “deemed inadmissible”, including initial testimonies from their alleged victims from the file.

Prosecutors ‌are ⁠still investigating the first case, but in 2024 they began a second criminal investigation against the Tates and four other suspects on suspicion of forming an organised criminal group, human trafficking, trafficking of minors, sexual intercourse with a minor and money laundering.

The brothers ​had been required to ​regularly check in ⁠with the authorities.

Anti-organized crime prosecutors declined to comment as they cannot publicly discuss court rulings.

“Today’s ruling restores a fundamental principle: that ​liberty cannot be restricted without solid legal grounds. After nearly ​four years, ⁠the courts have begun to correct what should never have happened in the first place,” Vidineac added.

The Tate brothers are the highest-profile suspects facing investigation for human trafficking in Romania. They also ⁠have a ​British arrest warrant and will be extradited after Romanian ​trial proceedings finish, a Romanian court ruled.

A self-described misogynist, Andrew Tate has gained millions of online fans by promoting an ​ultra-masculine lifestyle that critics say denigrates women.

Reporting by Luiza Ilie; Editing by Janane Venkatraman

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