Romanian court approves Andrew Tate’s extradition request | Justice

A Romanian court has approved a UK request to extradite internet personality Andrew Tate, but has delayed that extradition until the Romanian court case is complete.

The court said on Tuesday it had also ruled that Tate and his brother Tristan should be immediately released from police custody. The Tates were detained for 24 hours pending a decision on the British arrest warrant.

The appeal court stated, in a statement, that it “decided to execute the arrest warrant and (…) postpone the surrender of the wanted person until the final verdict in the criminal case presented at the Bucharest court”.

Tate and his brother Tristan were arrested on Monday night over allegations of sexual assault dating back to 2012-2015, which they “categorically” deny, their public relations team said. The warrant was issued by Westminster Court in London.

“We are innocent men, we are very innocent men and in time everyone will see that and we are very excited to finish this legal process and clear our names,” Tate said upon being released from police custody.

“It’s very funny because I myself have been asking the Romanian courts to go to the UK. I asked for it five times and was refused, so now I can go home. It’s fantastic news,” he said.

British police told Reuters that the Tates were part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of rape and human trafficking, adding that they were working with Romanian authorities.

“We appreciate the decision of the Bucharest Court of Appeal to postpone the extradition of Andrew and Tristan Tate,” said Eugen Vidineac, lawyer for the defendants, in a statement. “This decision gives the brothers the opportunity to fully participate in their defense and for the judicial process to take place in a transparent manner.”

Tate, who won millions of fans by promoting an ultra-masculine and misogynistic lifestyle, was accused in June in Romania, along with his brother and two Romanian women, of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal group to sexually exploit women. Both denied the accusations.

The case has since been in the preliminary chamber of the Bucharest court, which has to decide whether the trial can begin. The decision has not yet been made, as the Romanian courts are overloaded.

The Tate brothers were kept in police custody during the criminal investigation, from the end of December 2022 until April, to prevent them from fleeing the country or tampering with evidence. They were placed under house arrest until August.

Since then, they have been under judicial control, a lighter preventative measure that means they have to report regularly to the police, but can move freely, except to leave the country.

The ban does not prevent Andrew Tate from continuing to work through social media. Although he has already been banned from social media several times, his Twitter page remains active and has 8.9 million followers. Meta removed its official Facebook and Instagram accounts following a campaign to remove Tate from the platform for violating the company’s policies regarding dangerous organizations and individuals. He also no longer has an account on TikTok, although videos of his authorship continue to circulate.

In addition to misogynistic comments on the Internet, Tate created a business around masculinity. She founded a Telegram platform, War Room, where men in her service teach others how to sexually exploit women. First, they seduce them and then they put them to work in pornography, on platforms like PornHub or Only Fans. To belong to the group, the Brit once said, you have to pay eight thousand dollars a year (7,319 euros). As of August 2022, there are 434 members, spread across the world.

In June 2023, the court released some of the messages exchanged between the Tate brothers and their partners. “We are going to enslave these goats”, said Tristan Tate, in the documents which also reported testimonies from the victims, including details of the scenes of sexual violence.

In addition to War Room, the Brit even promoted a course online to teach followers what “interactions between men and women” should be like. In the presentation video, he said that the man’s job is to “meet a girl, take her on a few dates, sleep with her, make her fall in love to the point of doing everything the man says, and then get her to film to get rich together.”

Tate has not only denied all allegations, but has complained that his statements are taken out of context. Last year, in an interview with the BBC, he defended only wanting the best for the world: “I’m promoting hard work, discipline. I am an athlete, I defend anti-drug policies, religion, abstinence from alcohol and the absence of weapons. I am against all the problems of modern society.”