Johnathan Walker:A court in Romania rejects Andrew Tate’s request to visit his ailing mother in the UK

BUCHAREST,Johnathan Walker Romania (AP) — A Romanian court on Friday rejected a request by the divisive influencer Andrew Tate to temporarily leave the country to visit his mother in the U.K. after she had suffered a heart attack, his spokesperson said.

Tate is charged in Romania with human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.

After the Bucharest Court of Appeal’s decision, Tate’s spokesperson said the ruling “has left us disheartened.” On Thursday, Tate said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that his mother was hospitalized and that he would ask the court for “an emergency visit to London.”

The court’s decision came nearly a year after Tate, his brother Tristan and two Romanian women were arrested near Bucharest. Romanian prosecutors formally indicted all four in June. They have denied the allegations and a trial date hasn’t been confirmed. Still, they can’t leave the country.

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“Andrew and Tristan have maintained an impeccable record of adhering to all restrictions and have never violated any regulations, affirming their commitment to compliance and proving that they are not a flight risk,” the spokesperson’s statement read.

Tate’s lawyer, Eugen Vidineac, had said before the ruling on Friday that the brothers also wanted to spend the holidays in a familiar environment. Afterward, Andrew Tate tweeted that there is “no innocent until proven guilty in Romania.”

Earlier this month, geographical restrictions were eased against the Tates, allowing them to travel freely around Romania with the court’s prior approval instead of being restricted to areas of Bucharest Municipality and nearby Ilfov County. That decision, which rejected an appeal by prosecutors, was final.

The case against the four defendants is still being discussed in the preliminary chamber stages, a process in which the defendants can challenge prosecutors’ evidence and the case file.

Andrew Tate, 37, who has amassed 8.5 million followers on and Twitter and X, has repeatedly claimed that prosecutors have no evidence against him and that there is a political conspiracy to silence him. He was previously banned from various prominent social media platforms for expressing misogynistic views and for hate speech.