Andrew Tate lawyer says he should not be judged based on his social media personality 'which may not be who he is'

13 January 2023, 23:56

Andrew Tate's lawyer in Romania has said his hugely controversial social media presence cannot be used against him in the human trafficking and rape investigation there.

The influencer, whose hold over some young men and boys has concerned commentators, is in custody after Romania's anti-organised crime agency detained him and his brother Tristan.

The pair, from Luton, were taken from Tate's mansion in a raid last month.

Eugen Vidineac, representing the brothers, said there is no evidence to support the allegations against them and their co-accused, and said his social media profile he has put out cannot be "used as evidence in a criminal trial" because it may not reflect who they really are.

"I will point this out from the beginning, that even up to the present moment, the criminal investigation file has not been made available to us to ensure the effective defence of our clients," he said.

"In this sense, I would like to point out, at least from this point of view, I am also somehow amazed, there is not a single piece of evidence apart from the victim's statement that leads to the idea that a crime of rape was committed."

Read more: Andrew Tate to stay locked up as appeal against detention rejected by Romanian court

Of the human trafficking allegations, he said: "In my view, there is no evidence there either, and I'm talking about evidence leading, by itself or directly, to the formation of an opinion of reasonable suspicion regarding the commission of offences provided for and punishable by criminal law.

"In this case we are talking about human trafficking and organised crime."

He added: "They say that these issues are ripped out of context, out of some interviews they have done on social media.

"But they also say, if we live our lives surrounded by over 300 people, women and men, we have a lot of girlfriends and supporters all over the world, we've been out in public all the time with our girlfriends and there have been no complaints from our girlfriends.

"People have come out in public and said that they've been with one of the Tate brothers and he's not a violent, uneducated, abusive character as he is being portrayed at this point."

And he asked: "In the case of the Tate brothers, I don't know what their intent was in promoting themselves on social media, but I sit here and wonder, can that intent from the social media stand as evidence in a criminal prosecution case, with respect to a criminal character?"

Romanian authorities seized four more luxury cars ahead of another court appearance due for Tuesday, with 11 taken in past raids. At least seven were registered to the Tates.

Appeals against a decision to extend their arrest from 24 hours to 30 days will be head next week.

They will also appeal against the seizure of their belongings.