Andrew Tate: US must not interfere in case, say alleged victims
Four women who allege they were sexually abused by the social media influencer Andrew Tate have urged the US not to interfere in his case in Romania.The women said they were "extremely concerned" by reports that US officials had asked Romania to relax travel restrictions against Tate and his brother, Tristan Tate, who have dual UK-US nationality.Lawyer Matthew Jury, who is representing the four alleged victims, told the BBC they were "absolutely bewildered why the Trump administration has decided to interfere in this way".Tate, 38, and his brother were arrested in Romania three years ago and face trial on allegations of rape, trafficking minors and money laundering, all of which they deny.
Separately, the brothers are wanted by police in the UK over allegations of rape and human trafficking, which they also deny. Their extradition to the UK will be dealt with once the Romania case finishes.The Financial Times newspaper first reported that US officials had brought up the case with the Romanian government last week, and it was then followed up by Trump's envoy Richard Grenell at the weekend.One source told the paper that a request had been made by the US to return the brothers' passports to them so they could travel while waiting for the criminal case against them to finish.The Tate brothers are currently banned from leaving Romania, although are no longer under house arrest.Romanian Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu confirmed to Euronews that Grenell had raised Tate's case with him, and that Grenell had said he was "interested in the fate of the Tate brothers". The minister denied this amounted to pressure from Americans.A spokesperson for Mr Hurezeanu told the Financial Times: "Romanian courts are independent and operate based on the law, there is due process."According to the newspaper, Grenell said he had no "substantive conversation" with Hurezeanu, but added: "I support the Tate brothers as evident by my publicly available tweets."
'Gaslighting'
The Tate brothers have wide support on right-wing social media, and supported Trump during the US election campaign.Lawyer Mr Jury said: "It's very clear from members of the Trump administration's social media posts and public statements that there is a great deal of support for Tate."Either they don't know or they don't care about the nature of the allegations and how serious they are," he told BBC Newsnight.He said the women he represented were "absolutely distraught"."To see the most powerful man in the world support their alleged abuser, is incredibly traumatising... it's gaslighting of a sort."And he called the reported US actions a "gross interference in my clients' right to a fair trial and due process".
Mr Jury is representing the four women in a civil case against Tate at the High Court in the UK, after the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to prosecute their case. The Tate brothers deny the claims.The civil case is separate to the criminal allegations currently being investigated by British police. In their statement, the four women added: "We hope that the Romanian and the UK authorities will be left alone to do their jobs."
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick also warned the US not to interfere, saying the Tate brothers "must face our justice system"."No obstacles should be placed in the way of UK authorities. The government must make that clear to US counterparts."Tate is a self-described misogynist and has previously been banned from social media platforms for expressing those views.A former kickboxer, he has gained millions of followers online and has lived in Romania for a number of years, having previously been based in the UK.
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