Andrew Tate detained in Romania, arrest warrant handed over to Britain

Online influencer Andrew Tate was detained in Romania and handed over an arrest warrant issued by British authorities, his spokesman said on Tuesday.

Tate, 37, and his brother Tristan Tate were detained for 24 hours on Monday evening on charges of sexual assault in a UK case dating back to 2012-2015, spokesman Mattea Petrescu said.

He said the Bucharest Court of Appeal, where the Tate brothers appeared in handcuffs under police escort on Tuesday, was set to make an “important decision” on whether to execute the warrant issued by Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London the same day. Were. A move that could speed up the extradition process.

Four women reported Andrew Tate to UK authorities for alleged sexual violence and physical abuse, but the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to prosecute him. The alleged victims then turned to crowdfunding to cover their legal costs as they pursued a civil case against him.

“We submitted our evidence about horrific acts of violence and wait for action to be taken. But four years later we were told the UK authorities would not prosecute him,” he says on his campaign page. “This is our only way to hold him accountable.”

It was not immediately clear what charges Tristan Tate faces in Britain

Petrescu said Tuesday that the Tate brothers, who are dual citizens of Britain and the United States, reject the allegations and expressed “deep disappointment that such serious allegations are being revived without any new evidence.”

Andrew Tate has been charged with rape, human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women in a separate case in Romania. He was arrested near Bucharest in December 2022, along with his brother and two Romanian women. Romanian prosecutors formally indicted the four in June and they have denied the charges.

McCue Jury & Partners, the law firm representing four British women who have accused Andrew Tate of rape and serious physical and sexual assault, said in a statement on Tuesday that they had asked British police to “immediately seek a warrant for Tate’s detention and extradition.” ” was requested. Last week it was reported that he may be planning to flee Romania.

Matthew Jury, managing partner of the law firm, said, “Today’s news is very welcome as it was a significant concern for many that Tate would seek to escape justice in Romania and abroad.” “We are grateful to the British authorities for taking our concerns seriously and issuing the arrest warrant. Tate is accused of serious criminal crimes against a large number of victims and must be held accountable.

The jury said that since Tate was arrested in Romania, he “spread a large amount of misinformation about the criminal charges he faces in the UK” in high-profile interviews with popular media personalities such as Tucker Carlson and Piers Morgan. .

Tate’s lawyer Eugen Widniak told reporters in court on Tuesday that “as far as we know, this investigation was already closed, we don’t know whether this investigation will be reopened or not, whether there will be any investigation by the authorities.” New evidence has been presented.”

Another lawyer representing Tate, Constantin Gliga, said “we don’t have the necessary data” but added that the court’s decision would help “clarify the legal situation” in Romania. “After which we will see whether he will be handed over to the British authorities or not,” he said.

Tate, who has 8.9 million followers on X, formerly known as Twitter, has repeatedly claimed that prosecutors in Romania have no evidence against him and that there is a political conspiracy to silence him. . Earlier also she was banned from various major social media platforms for expressing misogynistic views and spreading hate speech.

A post on Tate’s X account on Tuesday read, “The Matrix is ​​scary, but I only fear God.” He uses the term “matrix” to describe what he sees as a widespread conspiracy targeting men.

Following their arrest in Romania, the Tate brothers were held in police custody for three months before being placed under house arrest. They were later restricted to areas in the Bucharest Municipality and nearby Ilfov County. At the moment he cannot leave Romania. In Romania the legal case is still being discussed in the preliminary chamber stages, a process in which defendants can challenge prosecutors’ evidence. No trial date has been set.

Last October, lawyers for alleged abuse victims held a press conference in Bucharest in which they accused Andrew Tate and his followers of trying to intimidate their clients.

In January, Tate won an appeal challenging the seizure of her assets by Romanian authorities, which were seized a few weeks after her arrest.

Romanian authorities seized 15 luxury cars, 14 designer watches and cash in various currencies worth an estimated 3.6 million euros ($3.9 million).