Andrew Tate to stay locked up as appeal against detention rejected by Romanian court
10 January 2023, 21:14 | Updated: 10 January 2023, 21:26
A Romanian court has upheld the 30-day arrest of divisive influencer Andrew Tate, 36, on charges of organised crime, human trafficking and rape.
A spokesperson for Romanian anti-organised crime agency DIICOT said that a court in Bucharest had rejected an appeal by the social media personality against a judge's earlier decision to extend his arrest period from 24 hours to 30 days.
Tate, who has 4.5 million followers on Twitter, was initially detained for 24 hours on December 29 along with younger brother Tristan, 34, who was charged in the same case.
Two Romanian nationals were also taken into custody.
All four immediately challenged the arrest extension a judge granted to prosecutors on December 30.
A document explaining the judge's reasoning for granting the extension said "the possibility of them evading investigations cannot be ignored" and they could "leave Romania and settle in countries that do not allow extradition".
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.
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".
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."
