A Romanian court has decided that Andrew Tate, a controversial social media personality, will face trial over various criminal charges, including human trafficking.
The former kickboxer and self-confessed "king of toxic masculinity" was first arrested in Bucharest in December 2022 with his brother, Tristan Tate, and two Romanian nationals, Luana Radu and Georgiana Naghel.
All four are accused of human trafficking, evidence tampering and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women in which they used threats of violence to coerce them into sexual activity. They have denied any wrongdoing. Andrew Tate also faces separate charges of rape.
Through his legal representation, Andrew Tate said he and his brother had "fully cooperated with the authorities" and trusted that the evidence would "clearly demonstrate their innocence and absolve them of any wrongdoing."
The Bucharest Tribunal ruled the prosecutors' case against Andrew Tate met all the relevant criteria, green-lighting his criminal trial. However, it did not set a date for the trial to commence.
Lawyers for the Tate brothers said the court's decision was unlawful.
"The ruling issued by the preliminary chamber judge lacks legal basis and reasoning. We have filed a strong appeal as we believe the ruling to be unlawful," Eugen Vidineac, the lead counsel for the brothers, said in a statement to Newsweek.
Ioan Gliga, another attorney for the brothers, added: "We reassert our belief in the fairness of the arguments we presented during the preliminary hearing and in the memoranda concerning the legality of the criminal investigation.
"Although they did not receive the necessary attention in the preliminary hearing, we are confident that the appeal court judge panel will support us."
Andrew Tate was arrested when local authorities raided his Bucharest compound, and he was held in custody for three months. He was later released to house arrest, which was eventually lifted but restricted his movements to within Ilfov County in Romania. He now has free rein to travel anywhere within the country, but he must check in regularly with authorities and request permission to travel outside Romania.
In March, a Bucharest court ruled the Tate brothers should be extradited to the U.K. after police there issued a warrant for their arrest on charges of sexual assault and human trafficking. They have denied any wrongdoing.
Andrew Tate is also facing a civil trial from four women who accused him of rape and violence in incidents said to have happened between 2013 and 2015. He maintains his innocence in relation to these allegations.
Since rising to infamy in 2015 after appearing on the U.K.'s version of the reality series Big Brother, Tate has become notorious for his views on masculinity and comments many deemed to be racist, homophobic or sexist. He was also banned from social media platforms X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram.
He previously told an interviewer, "I am absolutely sexist, and I'm absolutely a misogynist."
Pundits and domestic violence organizations have warned of Andrew Tate's influence, accusing him of radicalizing boys and men.
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