Andrew Tate detained for 30 days after Romanian court rejects appeal

Andrew Tate lost his case in a Romanian court and will be held for another 30 days, an official said.

Tate, an influencer and former professional kickboxing athlete, was detained on suspicion of organized crime and human trafficking.

Ramona Bolla, spokeswoman for Romania’s organized crime agency DIICOT, said his appeal at the Bucharest appeals court against the judge’s decision on Jan. 20 to extend the arrest for a second time by 30 days was rejected.

Tate, 36, a British-American citizen with nearly five million Twitter followers, arrived at a Bucharest appeals court on Wednesday, where his brother Tristan is being held in the same case as two Romanian women.

The court rejected all four appeals and they will be detained until February 27 as prosecutors continue to investigate the case.

A document seen by The Associated Press explained the Jan. 20 decision, saying the judges considered “the defendant’s particular riskiness” and their ability to identify victims “increased vulnerability and seeking better life opportunities.”

Ioan Gliga, a lawyer representing the Tate brothers, said the defense had made a “strong argument” that the extended detention period was “unnecessary”.

“The trial period (period) initially contemplated the value of this precautionary measure of 30 days, but at the same time it was greatly diluted by other means of evidence,” he said.

Andrew Tate, who has been living in Romania since 2017, has previously been banned from various prominent social media platforms for expressing misogynistic views and hate speech, according to reports. He claimed there was “zero evidence” against him in the case and claimed it was a political attack to silence him.

“My case is not a criminal case, it’s a political case. It’s not about justice or fairness. It’s about attacking my impact on the world,” read a post that appeared on his Twitter account.

An online petition launched in January calling for the brothers’ release has garnered nearly 100,000 signatures.

After the arrests of the Taitz couple and the two women, Romania’s anti-organized crime agency DIICOT said in a statement that it had identified six victims in the human trafficking case who suffered “physical violence and Mental coercion” and being exploited in a sexual act by members of an alleged criminal group.

Victims are seduced by feigned love and subsequently subjected to intimidation, surveillance and other control tactics, while being forced to engage in sexual acts for considerable financial gain, the agency said.

In early January, Romanian authorities raided a compound near Bucharest and towed away a convoy of limousines, including a blue Rolls-Royce, a Ferrari and a Porsche. They reported seizing assets worth approximately $3.9 million.

Prosecutors said the assets would be used to pay for investigations and compensate victims if they could prove the owners profited from illegal activities such as human trafficking. Tate also unsuccessfully appealed the asset seizure.