ROMANIA. Bucharest: Andrew Tate, a divisive internet personality, will be held in detention in Romania for another 30 days, said an official, following his arrest on suspicion of rape, human trafficking, and organising a criminal gang.
Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan, and two other suspects were detained for an initial 24 hours on Thursday, prosecutors from the anti-organized crime unit stated after raiding their Bucharest properties.
Prosecutors then asked a Bucharest court to extend their detention for another 30 days.
A spokeswoman for the Anti-Organized Crime and Terrorism Directorate (DIICOT), Ramona Bolla, said on Friday that all four suspects will remain in detention for an additional 30 days during an investigation after a judge prolonged their initial 24-hour detention period. She stated that the suspects could appeal and that the ruling was not final.
“The four suspects… appear to have created an organised crime group to recruit, housing, and exploit women by forcing them to create pornographic content meant to be seen on specialised websites for a cost,” prosecutors stated late Thursday.
Six women who had been abused sexually by the accused, as per prosecutors, have been found.
Eugen Vidineac, the Tates’ attorney, announced outside of court that they would file an appeal against the detention. He continued, “We are not at a stage where guilt or innocence is proven, for now, we only discuss preventive measures,” adding that his clients reject all the allegations.
The 36-year-old Andrew Tate has not yet commented directly on the charges.
But after being held, a tweet was posted from his account making reference to the 1999 film The Matrix. The post read, “The Matrix sent their agents.”
As per their lawyer, the Tate brothers maintained their right to remain silent during the detention hearing. Tate, who was born in the US before relocating to the UK, went on to have a prosperous career as a kickboxer.
A video that claimed to show him assaulting a woman led to his removal from the British television programme Big Brother in 2016. Then he established a “webcam business,” which he referred to as “adult entertainment.”
Andrew Tate went on to gain worldwide prominence and online fame, with Twitter banning him for commenting that women should “bear responsibility” for being sexually abused. Later on, he was reinstated.
However, despite getting banned from social media platforms, he gained popularity, especially among young men, by endorsing a super-masculine, super-luxurious lifestyle. He frequently made video appearances in his fleet of pricey sports vehicles, private jets, and on lavish vacations.
Also Read: Andrew Tate Detained in Romania for Human Trafficking Case
