As reported, the Romanian court has turned down the appeal of Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan, known as controversial internet figures. Additionally, there are indications that prosecutors may push for extending their initial 30-day detention to 180 days.
A representative for the Romanian anti-organized crime agency DIICOT, Ramona Bolla, announced that the court denied the appeal made by Tate to overturn a previous ruling by a judge that increased his arrest period from 24 hours to 30 days.
The Bucharest Court of Appeal has denied the appeals made by Andrew Tate, his brother Tristan, and two Romanian women, who were all taken into custody on December 29th.
Andrew Tate, a British-U.S. citizen and a microblogging site (Twitter) star with 4.5 million followers, was arrested and held for 24 hours in the company of his brother Tristan. The prosecutors had sought to extend the arrest period, which the judge had granted on December 30th.
The court cited concerns that the defendants may evade investigations or flee the country to avoid extradition, as reasons for their rejection of the appeals
All four defendants were taken to court in handcuffs Tuesday morning and were taken away in the afternoon, hours before the court ruled against them.
Andrew Tate, formerly a professional kickboxer, who has resided in Romania since 2017, is known for being banned from various popular social media platforms for expressing discriminatory views and hate speech. Just before his arrest, he had engaged in a Twitter altercation with teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg.
According to the anti-organized crime agency DIICOT, six individuals have been identified as victims in the human trafficking case under investigation. These victims were exposed to “acts of physical violence and mental coercion” and were sexually abused by the members of the accused criminal group.
According to the agency, the victims were deceived by promises of romance and then faced with intimidation, constant surveillance, and other forms of control. They were forced to engage in pornographic acts for the financial benefit of their alleged oppressors.
The DIICOT spokesperson Bolla mentioned that Prosecutors has seized 15 luxury cars, at least seven of which were owned by the Tate brothers, and more than 10 properties or land owned by companies registered to them, as part of the ongoing investigation.
Bolla also mentioned that if it is proven that the Tates gain money through human trafficking, the assets will be seized by the state to cover the expenses of the investigation and damages to the victims.
As the court upheld the arrest warrant extension, the prosecutors now have the ability to request detention of the four defendants for up to 180 days
Since his arrest, Andrew Tate’s Twitter account has seen a number of obscure posts, which have garnered widespread media coverage.
