Andrew Tate to be released from Romanian jail and placed under house arrest

Andrew Tate and his brother are to be released from custody into house arrest after a ruling from a Romanian judge.

The controversial influencer and his brother Tristan are currently being investigated over allegations of sexual assault, exploitation and human trafficking.

Their release follows four separate rulings by Romanian authorities to extend the Tate brothers stay in prison after they were initially detained back in December.

Two of Tate's associates are also being released, with all four being ordered to stay in the buildings where they live, unless they are given judicial permission to leave.

None of the four has yet been formally indicted.

Tate, who has spent months in a Romanian jail, won an appeal to replace his detention with house arrest, an official said on Friday.

The Bucharest Court of Appeal ruled in favor of Tate’s appeal, which challenged a judge’s decision last week to extend his arrest a fourth time for 30 days, said Ramona Bolla, a spokesperson for Romania’s anti-organised crime agency, DIICOT.

Tate, a professional kickboxer who has resided in Romania since 2017, was previously banned from various social media platforms for expressing misogynistic views and hate speech.

He has repeatedly claimed Romanian prosecutors have no evidence and alleged their case is a “political” conspiracy designed to silence him.

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 pretenses 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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