Andrew Tate, a 36-year-old British-US citizen and professional kickboxer, remains in detention in Romania on suspicion of organized crime and human trafficking. Tate, who has 5.3 million Twitter followers, was initially detained in December alongside his brother Tristan and two Romanian women. None of the four have been formally charged in the case, which is ongoing.
At a hearing on Tuesday, a judge at the Bucharest Tribunal rejected Tate’s bail request. It is unclear what bail conditions were proposed by his legal team. In Romania, it is rare for defendants under preventative arrest for serious crimes to request bail, with more common requests being for house arrest or geographical restrictions.
The Tate brothers have lost two previous appeals against decisions to extend their detention, with a January court document stating that they could “leave Romania and settle in countries that do not allow extradition”. The document also noted that the possibility of them evading investigations “cannot be ignored”. As a result, the Tates will remain in custody until at least March 29th.
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 has repeatedly claimed that Romanian prosecutors have no evidence and that the case is a “political” conspiracy designed to silence him.
Andrew Tate (Via Andrew Tate/Twitter)
DIICOT, the Romanian anti-organised crime agency, has claimed that six victims were identified in the human trafficking case, who were allegedly subjected to physical violence, mental coercion, and sexual exploitation. The agency stated that victims were lured with pretences of love and later intimidated, placed under surveillance, and subjected to control tactics while being coerced into engaging in pornographic acts for the financial gain of the alleged crime group.
Before the court’s decision, a post appeared on Tate’s Twitter account, reading: “If you want a life people will aspire for, you’ll need to be prepared to defend it”. The post suggests that Tate may be preparing for a lengthy legal battle, and his defiant tone has been met with widespread criticism online. The case continues to grab international attention, with many following the developments closely.
