Bucharest:
Influencer Andrew Tate will be extradited to Britain to face sex offense charges, but only after his separate case on human trafficking and other charges in Romania is concluded, a judge ruled on Tuesday.
US-born Briton Tate and his brother Tristan were released from Romanian custody on Monday following their arrest on a British arrest warrant issued ahead of their trial on the Romanian charges.
The British arrest warrant for the self-described misogynist with millions of online followers follows allegations from four women who accused him of sexual assault in Britain.
The men remain under the supervision of the Romanian court, pending a new court ruling expected on Wednesday.
At the hearing in Bucharest, Andrew Tate dismissed charges leveled against him in Britain as “sloppy” and “over a decade old”, saying he and his brother did not want to be extradited.
The ruling by the court of appeal in Romania allowed the men's extradition under the Westminster Magistrates' Court order, but postponed extradition until the resolution of the Romanian case, which could take years.
The brothers, who say they are innocent, are accused of forming an organized criminal network in early 2021 in Romania, as well as in the United States and Great Britain.
They are accused of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal group to sexually exploit women.
They allegedly forced women into forced labor and pornographic acts for “substantial financial benefits”.
After Tuesday's ruling, the brothers' spokesperson, Mateea Petrescu, said the men would “continue to comply with the judicial measures in force in Romania, which allow them to travel around the country.”
They were previously in custody on the Romanian charges but were released under judicial supervision in August 2023.
Petrescu said the charges in the British case date back to 2012-2015 and “include allegations of sexual aggression.”
The charges were “dismissed by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in 2017-2019” but have now “resurfaced”, Petrescu added.
Romanian authorities said in a statement that they had “issued two European arrest warrants by the British judicial authorities for the commission of sexual offenses and exploitation of persons in the territory of Great Britain.”
– Possible escape plans –
Petrescu said the 37-year-old former kickboxer and his brother Tristan, 35, “unequivocally deny all allegations and denounce what they consider an exploitative use of the justice system.”
In June 2023, lawyers for four women threatened Andrew Tate with a lawsuit in the British courts over allegations of sexual assault, serving him legal papers from British law firm McCue Jury and Partners.
The women, now in their late 20s and early 30s, say the crimes took place in the 2010s, when Tate was still based in Britain.
The British law firm representing the women said the allegations included “forcible rape, serious physical abuse and controlling and coercive behaviour”.
In a statement on Tuesday, the law firm welcomed their detention, citing recent information that they “may have been planning to flee Romania.”
“We have written to the British police to bring this to their attention and urge them to immediately apply for a warrant for Tate's detention in Romania and extradition to Britain,” the company added.
After the ruling, Petrescu rejected the claim of such plans.
“We believe this rumor comes from a popular online influencer who misinterpreted a text message from our customers while live streaming. There is simply no truth to it,” she said in a statement.
In 2016, Tate appeared on the reality TV show “Big Brother” in Britain, but was removed after a video surfaced of him attacking a woman.
He then turned to social media platforms to promote his divisive views.
Tate's videos provide tips on how to be successful, along with misogynistic and sometimes violent maxims, and have made him one of the world's best-known influencers.
His account “Cobratate” on X has almost nine million followers.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)