The trial of Andrew Tate, the social media influencer accused of human trafficking, rape, and forming a legal gang to sexually exploit ladies, can go forward, a courtroom in Romania has mentioned.
Friday’s ruling by a courtroom in Bucharest comes virtually 10 months since he and his brother Tristan have been first charged – and will be appealed.
The Bucharest Tribunal mentioned that the prosecutors’ case file in opposition to Tate met the authorized standards however didn’t set a date for the trial to start.
One of many brothers’ legal professionals, Eugen Vidineac, mentioned the courtroom’s choice “lacks authorized foundation and reasoning” and has filed an attraction.
The 37-year-old influencer was arrested in December 2022 close to the Romanian capital alongside along with his brother and two Romanian ladies.
The 4 have been charged in June final yr. The siblings deny all of the allegations in opposition to them.
Learn extra: Who’s Andrew Tate, the self-styled ‘king of poisonous masculinity’?
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Tate: ‘I’ve nothing to worry’
The pair, who stay in Romania, have been first arrested in a property in Bucharest in December 2022 and held in custody till March 2023 after they have been launched below home arrest.
Underneath Romanian regulation, the Bucharest courtroom’s preliminary chamber wanted to examine the case recordsdata and proof to make sure legality. With that course of accomplished, the legal trial can begin.
In March, a Romanian courtroom permitted a request from Britain to extradite the Tate brothers on allegations of sexual
aggression relationship again to 2012-15, however solely after the completion of Romanian trial proceedings.
Andrew Tate (L) and his brother Tristan have each been charged. Pic: AP
The Tate brothers are each former kickboxers with twin US and British citizenship.
Romanian prosecutors have mentioned they recruited their victims by seducing them and falsely claiming to need a relationship or marriage.
The victims have been then taken to properties exterior town, and thru bodily violence and psychological intimidation have been sexually exploited by being compelled to supply pornographic content material for social media websites that generated massive sums of cash, prosecutors mentioned.
Tate gained thousands and thousands of followers by selling an ultra-masculine way of life that critics say denigrates ladies, although he has denied holding misogynistic views.
