Gov't spokesman: No reason for me to assume Tate brothers' departure is due to foreign pressure

 Government spokesman Mihai Constantin said on Thursday that the Tate brothers' departure from Romania had "a legal basis" and that they are still under judicial control, and that he has no reason whatsoever to say that the lifting of the travel ban on the two British-American influencers was the result "of pressure from a foreign entity.""First of all, from what I documented this morning, the Tate brothers left Romania on a legal basis, following a decision and as far as I know, they are still under judicial control and will have to comply with an agreed legal procedure. As far as the departure itself is concerned, I have no reason to assume that it would have been in any way the consequence of pressure put by a foreign entity," Constantin said after the government meeting.The government spokesman was asked if there was a connection between information emerged last week according to which a U.S. representative had pressured for the release of the Tate brothers and the fact that they left Romania on Thursday for Florida, with the approval of Romanian prosecutors.The Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) confirmed on Thursday morning that the case prosecutor allowed brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate to leave Romania, but underscored that they are still under judicial control and must return to the country.The Tate brothers are said to have left Romania on Thursday morning, aboard a private jet, with Florida as their destination, according to BoardingPass publication.After the information appeared in the press, DIICOT issued a clarification regarding the legal situation of the Tate brothers."Regarding the two defendants, individuals with dual citizenship, American and British, who are under judicial control in the criminal cases in which they are being investigated by DIICOT - Central Structure, we make the following clarification: the request for the revocation of the preventive measure of judicial control was rejected, and it was maintained in both cases in which the criminal investigation is being conducted. The request to modify the obligation preventing the defendants from leaving Romania was accepted, with the other obligations being maintained by DIICOT prosecutors, including the obligation to appear before the judicial authorities whenever summoned, with the warning that any bad-faith violation of their obligations could lead to the replacement of judicial control with a more severe deprivation of liberty measure," DIICOT said in a press release.Andrew and Tristan Tate, who hold dual British and American citizenship, were indicted by DIICOT on June 20, 2023, on charges of forming an organised criminal group, human trafficking, rape, illegal access to a computer system, and assault or other violence.Later, in December 2024, the courts annulled the prosecutors' indictment, and the case was sent back to DIICOT for further investigation.According to the Financial Times, Richard Grenell, a special envoy of U.S. President Donald Trump, allegedly requested, in mid-February, during a meeting with Romanian Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu, that Romanian authorities hand over the passports of Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu assured that the United States "did not make any request" regarding the "legal situation" of the Tate brothers.Andrew Tate is a well-known influencer with over 10 million followers on X (formerly Twitter), where he promotes men's rights through homophobic and racist messages. A declared fan of Donald Trump and a former professional kickboxer, Tate was born in the U.S. and has lived in Romania for several years. He became widely known during the 2016 season of 'Big Brother UK.'