A Romanian court has determined that the indictment put forth by prosecutors against influencer Andrew Tate contains several irregularities, providing them with a week to either amend or drop the charges against him and his associates, which include alleged human trafficking, rape, and the creation of a criminal organization intended to exploit women.

This decision from the Bucharest Court of Appeal marks a significant obstacle for Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), which is required to act swiftly, within a five-day timeframe. The court has also mandated the removal of certain pieces of evidence from the case. This ruling comes nearly two years after Tate, at 37 years of age, along with his brother Tristan, aged 36, and two Romanian women, were taken into custody near Romania’s capital.

Formal indictments against the group were issued by Romanian prosecutors the previous year. In April, the Bucharest Tribunal determined that a trial could potentially begin, although a specific date was not established.

All accused parties have staunchly denied the allegations against them. A lawyer for the Tate brothers, Eugen Vidineac, declared, “This is a monumental victory for our clients, who have maintained their innocence from the beginning. The court’s decision to exclude key evidence and demand rectification of the indictment demonstrates the lack of substantiated claims against them.”

Prosecutors have not immediately responded to the court’s ruling. The appeals court highlighted various errors in the prosecutors’ documentation, including a failure to adequately convey the charges to one of the alleged victims regarding Andrew, along with a lack of clarity in presenting the charges against the two female suspects. Furthermore, the indictment fell short of specifying the asset confiscation amounts involved in the case.

Among the evidence ordered to be removed were witness testimonies from two alleged victims as well as statements from Andrew and Tristan that were deemed inadmissible by the court, without a disclosed reason for this decision.

In response to the ruling, Andrew Tate, a dual British-U.S. citizen and former kickboxer with a following exceeding 10 million on social media platform X, remarked, “The prosecution knew they were lies. We knew they were lies.”

Additionally, in August, DIICOT instigated a second investigation against the Tate brothers, scrutinizing allegations related to human trafficking, minor trafficking, sexual contact with a minor, influencing testimonies, and money laundering. They have consistently denied these charges, and the recent ruling does not affect this ongoing investigation.

Earlier in March, both brothers appeared at another session of the Bucharest Court of Appeal concerning a separate matter, where British authorities had issued warrants for their arrest due to claims of sexual aggression connected to a case in the U.K. from 2012 to 2015. The appeals court agreed to the British request for extradition but stated that this would only occur after the legal issues in Romania were resolved.