This article is from: baltimoreravens.com
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — An appeals court in Romania ruled Thursday that the human trafficking case against influencer Andrew Tate, his brother and two Romanian women cannot go to trial because of multiple legal and procedural irregularities on the part of the prosecutors.
The ruling comes two years after Andrew Tate, 38, and his brother Tristian Tate, 36, were arrested, along with the two women. The four are accused of human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women, and Andrew also faces an additional rape charge.
The decision by the Bucharest Court of Appeal is a huge setback for Romania’s anti-organized crime agency, DIICOT, but it does not mean the Tates and the two women walk free — the case has not been closed, and there is also a separate legal case against the brothers in Romania.
The court effectively returned case to the prosecutors, who can now bring forth new evidence to back up their charges, or amend and change the existing ones. In November, the same court gave prosecutors five days to amend their case file or withdraw it.
The request for the appeals court to review the case was made by Tate’s defense team. His spokesperson, Mateea Petrescu, said the court’s decision “confirms the lack of credible evidence or consistency in the accusations” by the prosecutors.
“The review revealed significant procedural flaws and raised serious concerns about the integrity of the investigative process, further undermining the credibility of the prosecution’s case,” she said.
Romanian prosecutors last year formally indicted the Tate brothers and the two Romanian women, and earlier this year, the Bucharest Tribunal ruled that a trial could start but did not set a date. All four deny the allegation against them.
After Thursday’s ruling, Andrew Tate said prosecutors “had years to build their case” and to “tear apart my life … and yet, they have nothing.”
“They threw me in jail, took my money, my cars, and every ounce of my freedom. They made me the biggest enemy on the streets, dragging my name through the dirt with accusations of the lowest, most vile deeds a man can be accused of,” he said.
“But I never broke,” he added.
In its November ruling, the appeals court ordered some evidence removed — including witness statements by two alleged victims and statements by the Tate brothers, deeming them inadmissible.
The same court also said it had identified multiple flaws in the prosecutors’ case, which had failed to adequately explain the charges against Andrew to one alleged female victim who is part of the case, and that the charges against the two female suspects were not properly presented.
Also, the indictment failed to specify the amounts related to the confiscation of assets in the case, it said.
The prosecutors did not immediately comment on Thursday’s decision.
Eugen Vidineac, one of the Tate brothers’ lawyers, said the decision was “a significant legal victory” that “rightly determined that there is insufficient basis to proceed with the case.”
“This decision is a testament to the strength of our legal system and the integrity of its judges,” Vidineac said. “Let this serve as a warning to those who seek to weaponize falsehoods: Andrew and Tristan Tate will not be silenced, and neither will the truth.”
Andrew Tate, who has amassed more than 10 million followers on the social media platform X, has repeatedly claimed that prosecutors in Romania have no evidence against him and that there is a political conspiracy to silence him.
Meanwhile, a British court ruled on Wednesday that in a separate case against the Tate brothers, police can seize more than 2.6 million pounds ($3.3 million) to cover years of unpaid taxes from the pair.
Andrew Tate accused the U.K. government of “outright theft” for freezing his accounts and said it was “a coordinated attack on anyone who dares to challenge the system.”
In August, Romania’s DIICOT launched a second case against the Tate brothers, investigating allegations of human trafficking, the trafficking of minors, sexual intercourse with a minor, influencing statements and money laundering. They have also denied those charges.
In March, the Tate brothers appeared at the Bucharest Court of Appeal in a separate case after British authorities issued arrest warrants over allegations of sexual aggression in a U.K. case dating back to 2012-2015.
The appeals court granted the British request to extradite the Tates, but only after legal proceedings in Romania have concluded.
After the Tate brothers’ initial arrest in December 2022, they were held for three months in police detention before being moved to house arrest. They were later restricted to movement only in the Bucharest municipality and nearby Ilfov county, and then within Romania.
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McGrath reported from Warwick, England.
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