Andrew Tate
The divisive social media influencer is being held on suspicion of organized crime and human trafficking
AP in Bucharest
Wednesday 22 March 2023 at 15:58 GMT
A Romanian court has ruled for the fourth time extending the preventive arrest of Andrew Tate, the divisive social media influencer being held on suspicion of organized crime and human trafficking, by 30 days, an official said.
Tate, 36, a British-American national with 5.4 million Twitter followers, was originally arrested in late December along with his brother Tristan and two Romanian women in Romania’s capital, Bucharest. None of the four have been formally charged.
Ramona Bolla, a spokeswoman for Romania’s anti-organized crime agency DIICOT, said a judge at the Bucharest tribunal on Wednesday approved a request by prosecutors to keep all four detained while investigations continue. They can be held for a maximum of 180 days without formal charges.
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Wednesday’s ruling came after a Bucharest court last week rejected a bail application from Andrew Tate, who is expected to appeal Wednesday’s extension, as he did the three previous 30-day extensions he has all received has lost. If they lose an appeal against Wednesday’s verdict, all four will remain in custody until the end of April.
Tate, a professional kickboxer who has been based in Romania since 2017, was previously banned from various social media platforms for expressing misogynistic views and hate speech. He has repeatedly claimed Romanian prosecutors have no evidence and claimed their case is a political conspiracy designed to silence him.
A post appeared on Tate’s Twitter account on Wednesday, which read: “My whole life has been war. That’s the difference between me and everyone else. I have knife scars. I’ve had 87 professional fights. Now I’m in a Romanian prison. I succeed and still achieve. And that’s why people listen when I speak. Heroes are built in war.”
DIICOT said in a statement following the December arrests that it had identified six victims in the human trafficking case who were allegedly subjected to “acts of physical violence and psychological coercion” and sexually exploited by members of the alleged criminal group.
The agency said the victims were lured with pretenses of love and were later intimidated, monitored and subjected to other control tactics while being coerced into engaging in pornographic acts for the criminal group’s financial gain.
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