TATE OUT
Andrew Tate RELEASED from house arrest by Romanian courts pending trial over sex trafficking charges
CONTROVERSIAL influencer Andrew Tate has been released from house arrest, pending a trial, a Romanian court has ruled.
The former kickboxer, 36, has won an appeal in court in Bucharest and is set to be placed under judicial control - a similar measure to bail.
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The Bucharest Court of Appeals said in a written ruling that it "replaces the house arrest measure with that of judicial control for a period of 60 days from August 4 until October 2."
The ruling means that Tate, his brother Tristan and suspects Georgiana Naghel and Luana Radu can leave the house, but not the capital and the surrounding Ilfov county.
His spokesperson Mateea Petrescu clarified that Tate will not be allowed to be "in close proximity with any of the other defendants, any of the witnesses or any of the alleged victims and their immediate family."
"This positive outcome gives us confidence that more favourable developments are on the horizon," he added.
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Under Romanian law, a judge has 60 days to inspect the case files to ensure legality. The trial will not start until that process is completed.
A prosecution source told The Sun said they were frustrated with the decision, saying: "House arrest would have been more suitable in this case."
"They are a public threat to society,"; they said.
"The measure of judicial control means that the Tate brothers will have a lot of freedom, including to spread their aggressive views because they are not banned from posting on social media or making phone calls."
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Following the decision, Tate tweeted: "After 10 months. 3 in jail, 7 at home. After 15 million euro of asset seizures.
"After an inditement based on nothing.
"The file was passed to a Judge who has ruled it weak and circumstantial.
"I have been released from house arrest but must remain within Romania. Now. To the Mosque. Alhamdulillah."
While his brother Tristan hit back at "haters" posting: "Judges have release me from house arrest. It doesn’t matter how many fake screenshots haters share on X.
"Imagine having spent 2 years running an account showing old videos saying I’m 'guilty'. Losers. Justice is justice.
"The law is the law. Evidence is evidence. I am free."
Tate previously lost a series of appeals against a judge's decision to be kept on house arrest.
Last month a court ruled the duo should remain under house arrest for 30 more days over sex trafficking claims.
Tate immediately launched a furious rant against the judges' ruling on Twitter, claiming: "They’ve just decided I must remain on house arrest into month 8 - this can continue indefinitely."
"I haven’t been outside in 7 months," he added.
The brothers have spent the past five months on house arrest in their £600,000 compound on the outskirts of the Romanian capital.
The court's decision comes after the disgraced influencer sparked outrage after he posted a misogynistic comment to Amanda Holden's bikini snap.
The influencer shared Amanda's photo where she poses in a black string bikini while on holiday and wrote: "You are a wife and a mother and you're far past a teenager.
"There is no need for this post."
The two brothers were arrested in December. after they were accused of recruiting women on social media platforms and persuading them to travel to their on the outskirts of Bucharest.
Andrew has also been charged with rape and Tristan has been charged with instigating others to violence.
The indictment says the two brothers alongside Naghel and Radu formed an organised criminal group in 2021 for human trafficking in Romania.
Prosecutors allege seven female victims were recruited by Tate through false promises of marriage or a relationship, known as the "loverboy method".
Under Romanian law, trafficking of adults carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
But it is understood the trial is expected to take several years.
Andrew and Tristan strongly deny all charges against them and have been fighting to be released ever since.
The duo were released from the hellhole jail after winning an appeal to be moved to house arrest in March.
In June, Romania's Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT). had requested that judges extend the house arrest measure after the agency filed its investigation.
Tate, who has been accused of peddling conspiracy theories online and has amassed 7 million Twitter followers, has repeatedly claimed that prosecutors have no evidence against him and that there is a political conspiracy designed to silence his views.
There are seven female victims in the case, DIICOT said, who were lured with false pretences of love and transported to Romania, where the gang sexually exploited and subjected them to physical violence.
One defendant is accused of raping a woman twice in March 2022, according to the agency.
The women were allegedly controlled by “intimidation, constant surveillance” and claims they were in debt, prosecutors said.
Andrew Tate was previously banned from several prominent social media platforms for expressing hate speech and misogynistic comments, including that women should bear responsibility for getting sexually assaulted.
Several women in Britain also are pursuing civil claims to obtain damages from Tate, alleging they were victims of sexual violence.
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In his bombshell interview with the BBC, the influencer claimed one of his alleged victims was "imaginary" and "doesn't exist" as he insisted the legal case against him has been "utterly fabricated."
After he dominated the chat, the BBC chose to finish the interview abruptly.
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