INTERNACIONAL
Croatia schedules April 17 election for new parliament
Croatia will hold a parliamentary election on April 17, the country’s president said on Friday.
President Zoran Milanovic scheduled the parliamentary vote after Croatia’s parliament dissolved on Thursday.
The ballot next month will pit the ruling conservative Croatian Democratic Union against a group of centrist and left-leaning parties who have announced they will run as an alliance.
CROATIA DISSOLVES PARLIAMENT AHEAD OF ELECTION SEASON
Just hours after setting the election date, Milanovic announced a surprise bid to run for prime minister as the candidate of the opposition Social Democratic Party.
«I promise a determined and (corruption) clear government,» said Milanovic, who has served as prime minister in the past. «I’m inviting all honorable people and parties to come together (for the election.)»
Croatia is also slated to hold a presidential election by the end of the year. Milanovic said later he would resign as president after the parliamentary «victory.»
Milanovic will challenge the current conservative Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and his ruling Croatian Democratic Union, known by its Croatian initials as the HDZ.
The HDZ have largely held power since Croatia gained independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991. The party has faced mounting accusations of corruption from the opposition ahead of the ballot but has denied the claims.
Milanovic also set the country’s voting for the European Parliament on June 7.
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The Adriatic Sea nation became the newest member of the European Union in 2013 and joined Europe’s free travel and euro zones last year.
INTERNACIONAL
Court eases travel restrictions for Andrew Tate as he awaits trial on charges of rape, human trafficking
- A Romanian court ruled on Friday that social media influencer Andrew Tate can travel within the European Union without restrictions while he awaits trial.
- Tate awaits trial on charges of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.
- Tate, along with his brother Tristan and two Romanian women, was arrested in December 2022 near Bucharest.
A court in Romania’s capital ruled Friday that social media influencer Andrew Tate can leave Romania but must remain within the European Union as he awaits trial on charges of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.
The Bucharest Tribunal’s decision to allow Tate, 37, to leave the country was hailed by his spokesperson, Mateea Petrescu, as a «significant victory and a major step forward» in the case. It is not clear whether prosecutors can or will appeal the court’s decision.
Tate, a former professional kickboxer and dual British U.S. citizen, was initially arrested in December 2022 near Bucharest along with his brother Tristan and two Romanian women. Romanian prosecutors formally indicted all four in June last year and all four have denied the allegations.
ROMANIAN COURT RULES THAT ANDREW TATE’S TRIAL ON CHARGES OF RAPE AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING CAN START
After Friday’s decision, Tate wrote on the social media platform X: «I AM FREE. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 3 YEARS I CAN LEAVE ROMANIA. THE SHAM CASE IS FALLING APART.»
«We embrace and applaud the decision of the court today, I consider it a reflection of the exemplary behavior and assistance of my clients,» said Eugen Vidineac, one of Tate’s lawyers, adding that the Tates are «still determined to clear their name and reputation.»
On April 26, the Bucharest Tribunal ruled that the prosecutors’ case file against Tate met the legal criteria and that a trial could start but did not set a date for it to begin. That ruling came after the legal case had been discussed for months in the preliminary chamber stages, a process in which the defendants can challenge prosecutors’ evidence and case file.
After the Tate brothers’ arrest, they were held for three months in police detention before being moved to house arrest. They were later restricted to Bucharest municipality and nearby Ilfov county, and then to Romania.
Vidineac said the ability to travel within the 27-nation EU bloc will allow the Tates to «pursue professional opportunities without restriction.»
Andrew Tate, who has amassed 9.5 million followers on the social media platform X, has repeatedly claimed that prosecutors have no evidence against him and that there is a political conspiracy to silence him. He was previously banned from various social media platforms for allegedly expressing misogynistic views and using hate speech.
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In a separate case, Andrew Tate was served at his home in Romania with a civil lawsuit lodged by four British women after a claim was issued by the High Court in London, according to a statement released in May by McCue Jury & Partners, the law firm representing the four women.
The four allege Tate sexually and physically assaulted them and reported him to British authorities in 2014 and 2015. After a four-year investigation, the Crown Prosecution Service decided in 2019 not to prosecute him. The alleged victims then turned to crowdfunding to pursue a civil case against him.
In a separate third case, the Tate brothers also appeared in March at the Bucharest Court of Appeal after British authorities issued arrest warrants over allegations of sexual aggression in a U.K. case dating back to 2012-2015.
The appeals court granted the British request to extradite the Tates to the U.K., but only after legal proceedings in Romania have concluded.
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