The trial of Andrew Tate, the social media influencer accused of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women, can continue, a Romanian court has said.
Friday’s ruling by a Bucharest court comes nearly 10 months after he and his brother Tristan were first charged, and can be appealed.
The Bucharest Court stated that the prosecutors’ case file against tate It met the legal criteria but did not set a date for the start of the trial.
One of the brothers’ lawyers, Eugen Vidineac, stated that the court’s decision “lacks legal basis and motivation” and has filed an appeal.
The 37-year-old influencer was arrested in December 2022 near the Romanian capital along with his brother and two Romanian women.
The four They were accused in June of last year. The brothers deny all accusations against them.
Read more: Who is Andrew Tate, the self-proclaimed ‘king of toxic masculinity’?
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Tate: “I have nothing to fear”
The couple who lives in Romaniawere arrested for the first time on a property in Bucharest in December 2022 and were held in custody until March 2023, when they were released under house arrest.
Under Romanian law, the Bucharest court’s preliminary chamber needed to inspect the case files and evidence to ensure legality. Once that process is completed, the criminal trial can begin.
In March, a Romanian court approved a request from Britain to extradite the Tate brothers over allegations of sexual activity.
aggression dating back to 2012-2015, but only after the completion of the Romanian judicial process.
Andrew Tate (left) and his brother Tristan have been charged. Photo: AP
The Tate brothers are former kickboxers with dual American and British citizenship.
Romanian prosecutors have said they recruited their victims by seducing them and falsely claiming they wanted a relationship or marriage.
The victims were then taken to out-of-town properties and, through physical violence and mental intimidation, were sexually exploited by being forced to produce pornographic content for social media sites that generated large sums of money, prosecutors said.
Tate gained millions of followers by promoting an ultra-masculine lifestyle that critics say denigrates women, although he has denied holding misogynistic views.