A Romanian court has approved a request from the United Kingdom to extradite controversial influencer Andrew Tate but said it would postpone the extradition until his criminal trial in Romania had come to an end.
The court said on Tuesday it had also ruled that Tate and his brother Tristan should be released from police custody immediately. The Tates had been detained for 24 hours pending a ruling on the UK arrest warrant.
The court of appeals said in a statement that it “rules to execute the arrest warrant and… to postpone handing over the requested person until the final verdict in the criminal case argued at the Bucharest court”.
Tate and his brother Tristan were detained on Monday night on allegations of sexual aggression dating back to 2012-2015. The warrant was issued by Westminster Magistrates Court in London. The brothers’ PR team said they “categorically” deny the allegations against them.
“We are innocent men, we are very innocent men and in time everyone is going to see that and we are very excited to finish this judicial process and clear our names,” Tate said as he was released from police custody.
UK police told the Reuters news agency the Tates were part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of rape and human trafficking, adding that officers were working with Romanian authorities.
“We appreciate the Bucharest Court of Appeal’s decision to postpone the extradition of Andrew and Tristan Tate,” Eugen Vidineac, the legal counsel for the defendants, said in a statement.
“This ruling provides an opportunity for the brothers to participate fully in their defence and for the legal process to proceed in a transparent manner.”
Ultra-masculine lifestyle
Tate, who gained millions of fans by promoting an ultra-masculine lifestyle that critics described as “toxic”, was indicted in June in Romania along with his brother and two Romanian women for human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. They have denied the charges.
The case has since been with the Bucharest court’s preliminary chamber, which needs to decide whether the trial can start. A decision has yet to be made, with Romanian courts backlogged.
The Tate brothers were held in police custody pending the criminal investigation from late December 2022 until April last year, to prevent them from fleeing the country or tampering with evidence.
They were placed under house arrest until August and have since been under judicial control, a lighter preventive measure meaning they can move freely providing they check in regularly with the police. They are not allowed to leave the country.
In 2022, the words “Andrew Tate” were among the most searched on Google. But many adults only learned of his existence in 2023.
Tate went viral after he launched a bizarre Twitter attack on climate change activist Greta Thunberg.
“Please provide your email address so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions”, he wrote to her in December, posting a photo of him filling a Bugatti with petrol.
Thunberg’s crushing reply referencing his “smalldickenergy” was retweeted more than 570,000 times.
Giving tips on how to be successful, along with misogynist and sometimes violent maxims, Tate’s videos made him one of the world’s best-known influencers.
