LAST UPDATE | 12 Mar
ONLINE INFLUENCER ANDREW Tate and his brother Tristan will be extradited to the UK after a British police force secured a European arrest warrant for allegations of rape and human trafficking.
The pair were arrested yesterday evening at their home in Romania near the capital Bucharest, where they are under judicial supervision in a separate case.
Romanian authorities said in a statement today that they had executed “two European arrest warrants issued by the UK judicial authorities for the committing of sexual offences, of exploitation of persons on the territory of the UK”.
A Bucharest appeals court today ruled they would be extradited following the conclusion of legal proceedings in Romania.
In response to the court of appeal’s ruling, the Tate brothers’ lawyer Eugen Vidineac said: “We appreciate the Bucharest Court of Appeal’s decision to postpone the extradition of Andrew and Tristan Tate.
“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.”
The charges were “dismissed by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in 2017-2019″ but have now “resurfaced”, the spokesperson added.
It is understood the current arrest warrant, issued by Westminster Magistrates’ Court, relates to other alleged offences being investigated by Bedfordshire Police.
Petrescu said that the 37-year-old former kickboxer and his brother Tristan, 35, “unequivocally deny all allegations and decry what they perceive as an exploitative use of the legal system”.
In June 2023, lawyers for four women threatened Tate with a lawsuit in the British courts over allegations of sexual assault, serving him with legal papers by British law firm McCue Jury and Partners.
The women, now in their late 20s and early 30s, say the offences took place in the 2010s, when Tate was based in Britain.
The UK law firm representing them said that the allegations included “violent rapes, serious physical assault, and controlling and coercive behaviour”.
In a statement today, the law firm welcomed the arrest, citing recent information that the Tate brothers “might have been planning to flee Romania”.
“We wrote to the British police to bring this to their attention and to urge them to immediately seek a warrant for Tate’s detention in Romania and extradition to the UK,” the firm added.
Speaking at the Bucharest court before today’s hearing, the Tates’ lawyer Vidineac dismissed the claim of such plans as “an absolute fantasy”.
A spokesperson for Tate added: “We unequivocally deny any accusations that Andrew or Tristan Tate intends to abscond from Romania to evade the judicial proceedings.
“Our clients are fully committed to actively participating in the legal process and defending their reputation.”
Tate – a self-described misogynist with a large online presence – is awaiting trial in Romania along with his brother on separate charges of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal group to sexually exploit women.
The two men, who claim they are innocent, are suspected of having formed an organised criminal network in early 2021 in Romania, as well as in the United States and Britain.
They allegedly coerced women into forced labour and pornographic acts for “substantial financial benefits”.
At the end of 2022 they were arrested in Romania and spent three months in detention.
Includes reporting by Press Association and © AFP 2024
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