In this file photo taken on January 10, 2023, British-American former professional kickboxer and controversial influencer Andrew Tate (third from right) and his brother Tristan Tate (second from right) are handcuffed and escorted by police to a courthouse in Bucharest Arrived. The court is hearing his appeal against pre-trial detention for alleged human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal group. , photo credit: AFP
A Romanian judge has granted a request for a 30-day extension Andrew Tate’s arrestA social media personality who was detained in the country on charges of being part of an organized crime group, human trafficking and rape, an official said on Friday.
Tate, 36, a British-American national who has 4.7 million followers on Twitter, was initially detained on December 29 in the Romanian capital Bucharest. His brother, Tristan, and two Romanian women were arrested in the same case.
Ramona Bolla, spokeswoman for Romania’s anti-organized crime agency DICOT, said this The Associated Press Prosecutors requested a second 30-day extension on Thursday to detain the four while the investigation continues. A judge approved the request on Friday, she said.
The judge’s decision at the Bucharest tribunal came after all four lost appeals in a Bucharest court last week. Against the judge’s decision of 30 December To increase his arrest from 24 hours to 30 days.
There is also a possibility of appealing the extension of Tet Friday.
Ion Gliga, a lawyer for the Tate brothers, said he considered Friday’s ruling “wholly unfair.” “Only an hour ago, the session closed and there are 20 volumes in the file,” he said, “I find it very hard to believe that anyone has the physical ability to study the file in such a short time, because yesterday Only this file had reached the Tribunal.
A post on Andrew Tate’s Twitter account on Thursday said: “I am in custody because they ‘look’ for evidence. Evidence they will never find because we are not guilty. Solid evidence (that) we are innocent.” ”
“My case is not about truth. It is about politics,” the post continued.
Tate, a former professional kickboxer who has reportedly been living in Romania since 2017, was previously banned from various major social media platforms for expressing misogynistic views and hate speech.
Romanian authorities descended on a compound near Bucharest last week and seized a fleet of luxury cars, including a blue Rolls-Royce, a Ferrari and a Porsche. He reported seizing assets worth an estimated $3.9 million.
Prosecutors have said that if they can prove the owners earned the money through illegal activities such as human trafficking, the assets will be used to cover the costs of the investigation and to compensate victims. Tate also unsuccessfully appealed for asset forfeiture.
After Tates and the two women were arrested in December, DIICOT said in a statement that it had identified six victims in the human trafficking case who were subjected to “physical violence and psychological coercion” and sexually abused by members Was. Alleged crime group.
The agency said the victims were lured with love and were later intimidated, kept under surveillance and forced to engage in recorded pornographic acts.