Andrew Tate loses latest appeal after Romanian court upholds third detention
Andrew Tate lost his appeal on Monday against the third 30-day extension of his detention in a Romanian prison granted by a court last week.
The controversial former professional kick-boxer lost his appeal against a judge’s decision on February 21 to extend his arrest a third time for 30 days, according to Ramona Bolla, a spokesperson for Romania’s anti-organised crime agency DIICOT.
Tate, who is a self-styled influencer, has recently become well known for his misogynistic views - that have earned him bans from social media platforms over hate speech - in his videos coaching young men to imitate his luxury lifestyle.
On Monday, Tate arrived at the Bucharest Court of Appeal handcuffed to his brother Tristan, who is held in the same case.
The 36-year-old, who is a British-US citizen, was arrested on December 29 on suspicion of organised crime and human trafficking.
Ms Bolla said prosecutors also won an appeal Monday against a court’s decision last week to place two women held in the case under house arrest, instead of in full detention. None of the four has been formally charged.
It is the third separate appeal the brothers have lost against decisions to extend their detention while investigations continue.
All four defendants will now remain in jail until at March 29 at the earliest, Ms Bolla added.
Tate's lawyer, who spoke to members of the media before he lost his appeal, said his client had planned to travel to Dubai if released, but only for medical examinations and would not seek to evade the Romanian legal system.
A document explaining an earlier decision to keep the brothers in jail said the judge took into account the “particular dangerousness of the defendants” and their capacity to identify victims “with an increased vulnerability, in search of better life opportunities.”
Tate, who has lived in Romania since 2017, has repeatedly claimed that Romanian prosecutors have no evidence and alleged their case is a “political” conspiracy designed to silence him.
After the court ruled on Monday, a post appeared on Tate’s Twitter account, which read: “They weaponize lies to keep me in here. But you cannot hide the sun forever.”
DIICOT said in a statement after the December arrests that it had identified six victims in the human trafficking case who were allegedly subjected to “acts of physical violence and mental coercion” and sexually exploited by members of the alleged crime group.
The agency said victims were lured with pretences of love and later intimidated, placed under surveillance and subjected to other control tactics while being coerced into engaging in pornographic acts for the financial gain of the crime group.
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