Four British women who claim they were raped by Andrew Tate and are bringing a civil case against him have welcomed his arrest for fresh sex allegations.
The group, who cannot be named for legal reasons, say they were victims of self-proclaimed misogynist Tate, 37, while they were working for him and his webcam empire.
Police in Hertfordshire originally investigated the claims, which he has repeatedly denied, and he was arrested three times before the case was dropped.
The women issued a statement after Tate and his brother Tristan, 35, were arrested in the Romanian capital Bucharest on behalf of Bedfordshire police, who are probing new sex assault allegations.
They said: ‘We are four British women bringing a civil case against Andrew Tate in the UK for allegations of rape and assault.
‘We are making this joint statement in response to the news that Tate has been detained in Romania at the request of the UK authorities for extradition to England to face criminal charges.
‘We understand that this extradition request was made because of criminal complaints of sexual assault made by other women, and not because of the complaints we made almost a decade ago.
‘While we welcome the news that the UK authorities have, at last, done the right thing and are seeking to prosecute Tate, we are still disappointed and distressed that the CPS chose not to prosecute Tate in 2019 when it had the chance for the crimes, we allege he committed against us.
‘After a four-year investigation, and despite the Police believing that the evidential test for prosecution had been met, this decision by the CPS allowed Tate to travel to Romania where he has since been charged with human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.
‘This might not have happened if the CPS had taken our complaints seriously. Last year, we asked the CPS to reconsider its decision. It refused to do so.
‘We must ask, was this a political decision? If the CPS had agreed, how would it then explain to the Romanian authorities that it had effectively let Tate go on to travel to their country to allegedly commit serious criminal offences; leaving Romania to foot the bill for the subsequent investigation and prosecution, which may end costing millions?
‘This is, we believe, a question that the CPS must be asked and should be the subject of an immediate inquiry.
‘The extradition request comes during the week in which a report following an independent examination into how the CPS prosecutes rape will be published.
‘The Guardian has reported that specialist rape lawyers are “obsessed” with the credibility of victims and use victim-blaming language. Unfortunately, this mirrors our own experience with the CPS.
‘We are hopeful that the women who are the subject of Tate’s arrest warrant today will have their case handled and prosecuted differently to ours so that they get the justice they deserve.
‘We are thinking of all the women Tate has allegedly hurt since his move to Romania whose suffering might have been prevented if the authorities in the UK had acted sooner.
‘We thank our lawyers, McCue Jury & Partners, who have been campaigning for the UK authorities to prosecute Tate, even if not for the crimes committed against us, and who wrote to the British police last week to urge them to immediately seek a warrant for Tate’s extradition to the UK following rumours of him planning an escape. We will continue to fight for justice.’
On Tuesday the brothers appeared in a Bucharest court after they were arrested by armed police late on Monday night, executing a European Arrest Warrant.
At the hearing, the judge ruled they could be extradited but only after their case in Romania on unrelated people trafficking and rape charges is heard first.
Speaking outside court Andrew Tate said: ‘We are very innocent men and in time everybody is going to see that. We are excited to finish this judicial process and clear our names.’
The brothers, who ‘categorically reject all charges’, will remain under judicial controls in Romania which prevent them from travelling outside the country.