Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan are handcuffed together as they arrive at Romanian court for appeal hearing

10 January 2023, 09:35 | Updated: 10 January 2023, 16:16

Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan appeared in handcuffs as they arrived at court to appeal their 30-day detention in Romania.

They were arrested by police investigating allocations of human trafficking and organised crime charges.

Former kickboxer and divisive influencer, Andrew, was seen stepping out of the back of a police van handcuffed to his brother holding a copy of the Quran.

Both of the Tate brothers deny any wrongdoing and have challenged their arrest.

Prosecutors claim the pair exploited female victims by forcing them to produce sexually explicit content for social media.

Andrew Tate arrives at Romanian court to appeal against continued detention

Tate, 36, who has 4.4 million followers on Twitter, was detained on December 29 north of the capital Bucharest along with his brother Tristan, who has also been charged. Two Romanian suspects are also in custody.

All four of them have challenged the arrest extension that was granted to prosecutors on December 30.

Ordering their detention, the judge said "the possibility of them evading investigations cannot be ignored" and that they could "leave Romania and settle in countries that do not allow extradition".

A verdict on the appeal is expected later today.

Romania's anti-organised crime agency DIICOT said after the late December raids that it had identified six victims in the case who were subjected by the group to "acts of physical violence and mental coercion" and were sexually exploited by group members.

The agency said victims were lured by pretences of love, and later intimidated and subjected to other controlling tactics into performing pornographic acts intended to reap substantial financial gains.

Tate, who is reported to have lived in Romania since 2017, has previously been banned from various prominent social media platforms for expressing misogynistic views and hate speech.

Prosecutors have seized a total of 15 luxury cars - at least seven of which are owned by the Tate brothers - and more than 10 properties or land owned by companies registered to them, said Ramona Bolla, a spokesperson for DIICOT.

She said that if prosecutors can prove they gained money through human trafficking, the property "will be taken by the state and (will) cover the expenses of the investigation and damages to the victims".

If the court upholds the arrest warrant extension on Tuesday prosecutors could request detention for a maximum of 180 days. If the court overturns the extension, the defendants could be put under house arrest or similar conditions such as being banned from leaving Romania.

Since Tate's arrest, a series of ambiguous posts have appeared on his Twitter account, each of which garners widespread media attention.

One, posted on Sunday and accompanied by a local report suggesting he or his brother have required medical care since their detention, reads: "The Matrix has attacked me. But they misunderstand, you cannot kill an idea. Hard to Kill."

Another post, that appeared Saturday, reads: "Going to jail when guilty of a crime is the life story of a criminal ... going to jail when completely innocent is the story of a hero."