The Court of Appeals in Bucharest announced on Tuesday that it has reversed the earlier decision permitting the controversial internet personality free movement within the European Union while awaiting trial on charges of human trafficking.
Pending the start of the trial, Tate and his brother Tristan are now prohibited from leaving Romania.
This development comes two weeks after Tate, 37, and his brother Tristan, 35, celebrated receiving permission to leave the country for the first time in two years. On July 5, the former kickboxer took to X, formerly Twitter, declaring, “I AM FREE… THE SHAM CASE IS FALLING APART.”
Tate and his brother were charged in mid-2023 with r*pe, human trafficking, and forming a criminal gang to s*xually exploit women, all of which they deny. Romanian prosecutors formally indicted Tate in June, along with Tristan and two Romanian women in the same case.
The four were arrested in late December 2022 near Bucharest and have denied the allegations.
Following the initial ruling that allowed them to travel within the EU, a spokesperson for the brothers stated, “The Romanian courts have ruled in favour of Andrew and Tristan Tate, lifting restrictions on their travel within the European Union,” calling it a significant victory and progress in challenging the allegations against them.
Andrew and Tristan’s lawyer, Eugene Vidineac, expressed gratitude for the initial decision, highlighting the brothers’ determination to clear their names and the relief brought by the ability to travel freely within the EU.
However, this relief was short-lived as the ruling was overturned. In a video posted on July 5, Tate, pacing topless around parked supercars, announced that for the first time in nearly three years, he was allowed to leave Romania, referring to the charges as a “sham case.”
The brothers were initially arrested in December 2022 along with two Romanian women, model Georgiana Naghel and former cop Luana Radu, and were formally indicted in June. The two women, dubbed “Tate’s Angels,” also face extradition to the UK once their court proceedings in Romania conclude.
The brothers face ten allegations of r*pe and s*xual assault from three alleged victims in the UK, with complaints from victims claiming they were drugged and subjected to s*xual acts between 2012 and 2015. Romanian law stipulates that the trafficking of adults and r*pe carry lengthy prison sentences of up to a decade.
