Police escort Andrew Tate, right, to court in Bucharest, Romania. AP
Police escort Andrew Tate, right, to court in Bucharest, Romania. AP
Police escort Andrew Tate, right, to court in Bucharest, Romania. AP
Police escort Andrew Tate, right, to court in Bucharest, Romania. AP

Andrew Tate: I am utterly sure I’ll be found innocent


Soraya Ebrahimi
  • English
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Andrew Tate insisted he would be cleared of accusations of organised crime and human trafficking during a heated interview with the BBC.

The 36-year-old, who is under house arrest in Romania with his brother Tristan, said he was completely sure he would be found innocent.

The detained social media personality instead said he is a “force for good in the world” and a “positive influence”.

The British-American citizen, interviewed in his home, said: “We have an open criminal investigation – I am absolutely and utterly sure I’ll be found innocent.

“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.”

A number of campaign groups have claimed Tate’s views make him a danger to young men and boys who see his content online, while the National Education Union’s annual conference heard pupils are becoming misogynistic because of him.

Andrew Tate detained in Romania – in pictures

Told about this, he responded: “That’s very upsetting and the reason that’s very upsetting is because I know that’s not true. I’m genuinely a good person. I believe my impact on the world is positive.

“I preach hard work, discipline – I’m an athlete, I preach anti-drug, I preach religion, I preach no alcohol, I preach no knife crime, every single problem with modern society I’m against.

“I’m teaching young men to be disciplined, to be diligent, to listen, to train, to work hard, to be exactly like me.

“And I’m saying that if men grew up like me, which are hardworking and diligent, with emotional control and stoic, we’re going to have a better society, not a worse society.

“To sit here and say that schools in England, which is a failing nation, which has knife crime going through the roof, violence going through the roof, men’s mental health going through the roof, and they’re going to all blame me because I appeared on the internet is disingenuous.”

Tate, who has lived in Romania since 2017 but is from Luton in southern England, has millions of followers online, where he promotes a luxury lifestyle he says is made possible through investments including a pornographic webcam business.

He gained mainstream notoriety for his misogynistic views, which led to him being banned from all major social media platforms, although Twitter reinstated his account after Elon Musk bought the company last year.

After the Tate brothers and two Romanian women were arrested in December, the country’s Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism said in a statement it had identified six alleged victims in the human trafficking case who were allegedly subjected to “acts of physical violence and mental coercion” and were sexually exploited.

The agency claimed the alleged victims were lured with pretences of love and later intimidated, placed under surveillance and subjected to other control tactics while being coerced into engaging in pornographic acts for the financial gain of the crime group.

Tate has claimed that Romanian prosecutors have no evidence and alleged their case is a political conspiracy designed to silence him.

After the interview, he said to his six million Twitter followers: “The mainstream media which vilify me beg me for interviews under the guise of ‘balanced’ journalism.

The Matrix is desperate.”

Plan to boost public schools

A major shake-up of government-run schools was rolled out across the country in 2017. Known as the Emirati School Model, it placed more emphasis on maths and science while also adding practical skills to the curriculum.

It was accompanied by the promise of a Dh5 billion investment, over six years, to pay for state-of-the-art infrastructure improvements.

Aspects of the school model will be extended to international private schools, the education minister has previously suggested.

Recent developments have also included the introduction of moral education - which public and private schools both must teach - along with reform of the exams system and tougher teacher licensing requirements.

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Anxiety and work stress major factors

Anxiety, work stress and social isolation are all factors in the recogised rise in mental health problems.

A study UAE Ministry of Health researchers published in the summer also cited struggles with weight and illnesses as major contributors.

Its authors analysed a dozen separate UAE studies between 2007 and 2017. Prevalence was often higher in university students, women and in people on low incomes.

One showed 28 per cent of female students at a Dubai university reported symptoms linked to depression. Another in Al Ain found 22.2 per cent of students had depressive symptoms - five times the global average.

It said the country has made strides to address mental health problems but said: “Our review highlights the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and depression, which may long have been overlooked."

Prof Samir Al Adawi, of the department of behavioural medicine at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, who was not involved in the study but is a recognised expert in the Gulf, said how mental health is discussed varies significantly between cultures and nationalities.

“The problem we have in the Gulf is the cross-cultural differences and how people articulate emotional distress," said Prof Al Adawi. 

“Someone will say that I have physical complaints rather than emotional complaints. This is the major problem with any discussion around depression."

Daniel Bardsley

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Updated: June 01, 2023, 7:40 PM