In Bucharest and London
EPAInfluential and influential Britain’s influential Andrew and Tristan Tate faced trial for rape, trafficking in minors and money laundering after prosecutors raised a two-year travel ban.
Andrew Tate, 38, and his brother, 36, left Bucharest on a private jet earlier Thursday. Both deny allegations against them.
Romanian prosecutors stressed that the case against them has not been dropped yet and they are expected to return, which is understood to be at the end of next month.
But their decision has raised concerns that they are under pressure from leading figures in the Trump administration, and a major Romanian politician said she was angry.
The brothers face separate, unrelated charges over allegations of rape and human trafficking in the UK, which they also deny. A separate civil case has been opened in the United States.
Romania reports said they were on a nonstop flight in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but Tates attorneys in Bucharest denied the BBC of their destination.
The Tate Brothers were first arrested in Romania in December 2022. The elder of the two men is a former Taekwondo player who appeared on the British TV show Big Brother and was later charged with rape and trafficking in persons while his brother was suspected of trafficking.
Both of them denied the allegations and arrested them in the House for months. A year later in August 2024, they face new charges, including sexual conduct with minors and trafficking in minors.
Andrew Tate, a self-proclaimed misogynist, has attracted millions of followers online despite being banned from expressing his views on social media platforms.
He moved from Britain to Romania a few years ago, but police in Bedfordshire are still seeking extradition charges of rape and human trafficking and tax evasion.
Romanian prosecutors decided on Thursday to lift a ban on the trend of leaving the country, a comment made by the Trump administration earlier this month.
TATES regularly publishes information to support U.S. President Donald Trump, and Tristan Tate said his brother is convincing “millions of young people” to support his role “can’t be ignored.”
Romanian Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu told Romanian TV that Trump’s special envoy Richard Grenell raised the Tate Brothers’ questions in a conversation at the Munich security conference in early February.
Hurezeanu said his discussion with Trump’s envoy was only informal and he did not view Grenell’s approach as a “form of pressure.” Grenell told The Financial Times that his support for the brothers can be evident in his “public tweets.”
Four British women also filed civil cases against Andrew Tate in the British High Court, accusing him of rape and forcibly controlling them. Tate denied their allegations.
They said it was obvious that he would not face criminal prosecution in Romania and called on British authorities to take action.
“We are incredibly restructured by the news that the Romanian authorities have paid for the news that the Trump administration has allowed Andrew Tate to travel in Europe and the United States,” the women said in a statement.
Elena Lasconi They were cancelled by controversycalling on the Romanian Organized Crime Investigation Bureau Dikot to resign immediately, the bureau decided to let the brothers leave.
“I’m angry!” she wrote on social media: “As a woman, a person and a Romanian.” Rasconi said prosecutors should publicly explain whether their decision was a result of external pressure.
Prosecutors from Diicot stressed that the judicial conditions of the brothers have not changed.
Any violation of obligations performed by malicious acts may lead to It said in a statement from Romania that higher liberty deprivation”.
It is understood that this is a requirement to return to Bucharest at the end of March to meet the prosecutor’s terms, but it is too early to say whether they will comply with them.
Romania is both a member of the EU and a NATO member state on the eastern side of the Western Union.
Senior Trump figures also have a government court ruling in Bucharest, which was repealed in December’s presidential election. Romanian intelligence said far-right candidate Calin Georgescu was backed by a Russian-designed Tiktok account.
Georgescu was indicted on Wednesday in an attempt to “incite against constitutional orders.”
