Global Courant
Bucharest, Romania — A Romanian court on Friday extended the house arrest of Andrew Tate, the divisive social media personality and former professional kickboxer, by 30 days. He was charged this week with rape, human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.
The Bucharest tribunal’s decision comes days after prosecutors from the Romanian anti-organized crime organization DIICOT formally charged the 36-year-old social media star after submitting their criminal investigation to a Bucharest court.
Tate, who has amassed nearly 7 million Twitter followers and is known for expressing misogynistic views and hate speech online, was initially arrested near Romania’s capital, Bucharest, in late December along with his brother. Tristan. Two Romanian women are also charged in the case.
All four defendants remain under house arrest for 30 days, the court ruled, but the decision can be appealed within 48 hours.
DIICOT this week asked the judges to extend the house arrest order while they filed their investigation. Under Romanian law, judges have 60 days to decide whether to take the case to court, but this often takes longer.
The agency alleges that in 2021 the four defendants formed a criminal group “to commit the crime of human trafficking” in Romania, as well as in the United States and Britain. All four have denied the allegations against them.
There are seven female victims in the case, said DIICOT, who were lured under false pretenses of love and transported to Romania, where the gang sexually exploited and subjected them to physical violence. One defendant is accused of raping a woman twice in March 2022, the agency said. The women were reportedly controlled by “harassment, constant surveillance” and claims of debt, prosecutors said.
The Tate brothers, who are both British and American citizens, won an appeal for house arrest on March 31 after three months of police detention.
Andrew Tate, who is known to spread conspiracy theories online to his mostly young male followers, has repeatedly claimed that prosecutors have no evidence against him and that there is a political conspiracy to silence his views.
In a video posted to his Twitter account on Thursday, he labeled the allegations against him as a “level 10 matrix attack” and said, “They’re trying to destroy me without evidence.”
Tate was previously banned from several prominent social media platforms for making hate speech and misogynistic remarks, including that women should be held accountable for sexual abuse.
Several women in Britain have also filed civil claims seeking damages from Tate alleging they have been victims of sexual assault.
During their investigation, prosecutors ordered the confiscation of the Tate brothers’ assets, including 15 luxury cars, luxury watches and approximately $3 million in cryptocurrency.
