Influencer Andrew Tate and his brother will remain in detention for at least 30 more days in Romania

A Romanian court confirmed on Monday third arrest in 30 days of influencer and former professional kickboxer Andrew Tatedetained on suspicion of organized crime and human trafficking, an official said.

Tate lost his appeal against a judge’s decision on February 21 to extend his detention for the third time by 30 days, according to Ramona Bolla, spokeswoman for Romania’s organized crime agency DIICOT.

Tate, 36, British-American citizen known for his misogynistic views and with 5.2 million followers on Twitter, he arrived at the Bucharest Court of Appeal handcuffed to his brother Tristan, arrested for the same case.

Bolla reported that prosecutors also won an appeal on Monday against a court ruling last week to place two women arrested in the case under house arrest, rather than full detention. None of the four has been formally charged.

It’s him third appeal that the brothers lose against the decisions to extend their detention as investigations continue. The four will remain in prison until at least March 29, according to Bolla.

A document explaining an earlier decision to keep them in prison said that the judge took into account the “particular dangerousness of the defendants” and its ability to identify victims “with greater vulnerability, in search of better life opportunities”.

Tate, who has lived in Romania since 2017, has previously been banned from various social media platforms for expressing misogynistic views and hate speech. He repeatedly claimed that Romanian prosecutors had no evidence and claimed that his case was a “political” plot to silence him.

After the court issued its decision on Monday, a message appeared on Andrew Tate’s Twitter account stating: “They’re making up lies to keep me here. But they can’t hide the sun forever”.

The DIICOT said in a statement after the December arrests that identified six victims in the human trafficking case who were allegedly subjected to “acts of physical abuse and mental coercion” and sexually exploited by members of the alleged criminal group.

According to the agency, victims were lured under amorous pretenses and subsequently bullied, subjected to surveillance and other control tacticswhile forced to participate in pornographic acts for the economic benefit of the criminal group.

In January, Romanian authorities raided a compound near Bucharest linked to the Tate brothers and took a fleet of luxury cars which included a Rolls-Royce, a Ferrari and a Porsche. Assets worth an estimated $3.9 million were seized.

Prosecutors said if they could prove that the owners of the cars had made money through illegal activities such as human trafficking, the assets would be used to cover the costs of the investigation and compensate the victims. . Tate also unsuccessfully appealed against the asset forfeiture.

Former kickboxing world champion Andrew Tate was a cast member of Big Brother in the UK, leaving the show in 2016 after being accused of sexual assault.

Tate has millions of followers on the internet, where he posted videos in which he claimed an aggressive and misogynistic masculinity associated with economic success.

(With information from AP and EFE)

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