22 December 2023 , 18:15
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Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan have been denied leave to return to the UK to visit their sick mother.
Former kickboxer Andrew, 37, and younger brother Tristan, 35, have been banned from leaving Romania where they face rape and human trafficking charges. Both men deny the charges.
The ex-sportsman was first arrested in December 2022 and was subsequently placed under house arrest at his home in the Romanian capital of Bucharest. In August, that period of house arrest was brought to an end and he was allowed to leave his home, though neither he or his sibling was permitted to leave Romania.
On Thursday, Tate shared a post on social media claiming his mother had suffered a heart attack.. "I am going to court tomorrow to request an emergency visit to London," he wrote after speaking about his mother's health.
On Friday, he said the request had been rejected. "The Romanian state decided she must be alone at Christmas, if she is alive," he added.
Bearded Andrew Tate looks disheveled as he arrives at court for latest hearing
Per Sky News, a spokesman for the Tate brothers said the behaviour of the pair affirmed their "commitment to compliance and proving that they are not a flight risk". They added that: "Despite this, the decision delivered by the court has left us disheartened."
Tristan and Andrew Tate have not been allowed to return to the UK (AFP via Getty Images)The Tate brothers have continued to post on social media since their arrests. This is not limited to the recent updates, with Tristan also writing: "If my mother makes it to Christmas she will be spending it alone".
The British-American siblings have protested their innocence following accusations that they tricked seven women into sexual exploitation on promises of a relationship or marriage. They and two further defendants are alleged to have formed an organised crime group in 2021 in order to commit human trafficking in Romania.
"We have an open criminal investigation, I am absolutely and utterly sure I’ll be found innocent," Tate told the BBC in June. "I know the case better than you, I know it intimately and you don’t, I have seen all the criminal files and the evidence against me and you haven’t.
"I know the truth of what happened and you don’t. And I’m telling you absolutely and utterly, I’ve never hurt anybody, that the case that’s been put against me is completely and utterly fabricated and I’m never going to be found guilty of anything."
Assets worth an estimated $4million, belonging to Andrew and Tristan Tate or their companies, were taken by Romanian authorities. “If we prove they gained money through human trafficking, they [the assets] will be taken by the state and (will) cover the expenses of the investigation and damages to the victims," Ramona Bolla of Romanian organised crime agency DIICOT told the Associated Press in January.