Police officers escort Andrew Tate, center, in a police van outside the Court of Appeal in Bucharest, Romania, Tuesday, March 12, 2024. Online influencer Andrew Tate was detained in Romania and handed an arrest warrant issued by British authorities, his spokesperson said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A court in Romania’s capital on Tuesday granted a request by British authorities to extradite the divisive online influencer Andrew Tate, but only after legal proceedings against him in Romania have been concluded, his spokesperson said.

The Bucharest Court of Appeal’s decision came after Tate, 37, and his brother Tristan Tate were detained on Monday evening on arrest warrants issued by British authorities over allegations of sexual aggression in a U.K. case dating back to 2012-2015.

The appeals court, where the Tate brothers appeared in handcuffs on Tuesday escorted by police, also ordered them immediately released, spokesperson Mateea Petrescu said.

Eugen Vidineac, Tate's lawyer, hailed the court's decision saying it “provides an opportunity for the brothers to participate fully in their defense” and for the legal process "to proceed in a transparent manner.”

Four women had reported Andrew Tate to the U.K. authorities for alleged sexual violence and physical abuse, but the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to prosecute him. The alleged victims then turned to crowdfunding to cover their legal costs as they pursue a civil case against him.

“We handed over our evidence about the horrific acts of violence we endured and waited for action. But four years later we were told the U.K. authorities would not prosecute him,” they state on their campaign page. “It’s our one remaining route to hold him accountable.”

It wasn’t immediately clear what Tristan Tate is accused of in the U.K.

Before the court's ruling Tuesday, Petrescu said that the Tate brothers, who are dual U.K. and U.S. citizens, reject the charges and “express profound disappointment that such serious allegations are being resurrected without substantial new evidence.”

Andrew Tate is charged in a separate case in Romania with rape, human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. He was arrested near Bucharest in December 2022 along with his brother and two Romanian women. Romanian prosecutors formally indicted all four in June and they have denied the allegations.

McCue Jury & Partners, the legal firm representing the four British women who accuse Andrew Tate of rape and serious physical and sexual assaults, said in a statement Tuesday they had urged British police to “immediately seek a warrant” for Tate’s detention and extradition after they received information last week that he might be planning to flee Romania.

“Today’s news is very welcome as it had been a significant concern to many that Tate would seek to avoid justice in Romania and abroad,” said Matthew Jury, a managing partner at the law firm. “We are grateful to the British authorities for taking our concerns seriously and issuing an arrest warrant. Tate is accused of serious criminal offenses against a large number of victims and he must be held accountable.”

Jury said that whatever the outcome of the Romanian trial, Tate will also face prosecution in England.

He added that since Tate was arrested in Romania, he has “spread a vast amount of disinformation about the criminal charges he faces in the U.K.” in high-profile interviews with popular media figures such as Tucker Carlson and Piers Morgan.

Vidineac said after the court's decision on Tuesday that the Tate brothers “unequivocally deny” accusations they planned to flee judicial proceedings in Romania. “We believe this rumour has originated from a popular online influencer who misconstrued a text message from our clients while streaming live,” he said. “There is simply no truth to it.”

Tate, who has amassed 8.9 million followers on X, formerly Twitter, has repeatedly claimed that prosecutors in Romania 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.

A post on Tate's X account on Tuesday that read, “The Matrix is afraid, but I only fear God.” He uses the term “Matrix” to refer to what he sees as a wide-ranging conspiracy targeting men.

After their arrest in Romania, the Tate brothers were held for three months in police detention before being moved to house arrest. They were later restricted to the areas of Bucharest Municipality and nearby Ilfov County. Currently, they cannot leave Romania. The legal case in Romania is still being discussed in the preliminary chamber stages, a process in which the defendants can challenge prosecutors’ evidence. No trial date has been set.

Last October, lawyers for the alleged abuse victims held a news conference in Bucharest in which they accused Andrew Tate and his followers of trying to intimidate their clients into silence.

In January, Tate won an appeal challenging the seizure of his assets by Romanian authorities, which were confiscated in the weeks after he was arrested.

Romanian authorities had seized 15 luxury cars, 14 designer watches and cash in several currencies worth an estimated 3.6 million euros ($3.9 million).

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McGrath reported from Sighisoara, Romania.

News from © The Associated Press, 2024