A Romanian court on Friday ordered controversial influencer Andrew Tate and his brother be moved from prison to house arrest while they are investigated for alleged human trafficking and rape.
Tate, 36, and his brother Tristan, 34, were arrested in late December and have since been in pre-trial detention, which was extended again last week.
However, an appeals court “rejected the prosecution’s proposal to extend the pre-trial detention” and ordered that the couple be placed “under house arrest”.
“House arrest”
House arrest is a sentence in which offenders are ordered by the court to remain confined to their residences, usually only allowed to leave for medical and professional reasons.
Pretrial detention can only last a few months at most in Romania and the authorities are notorious for taking advantage of tourists and foreigners not knowing the law and the prerequisites.
Some tourists have claimed that foreigners are intentionally not placed under house arrest in Romania.
They said corrupt authorities fear that arrested tourists will disappear or have the opportunity to expose a violation by the government.
Why was Andrew Taste arrested?
Tate, a British-American former kickboxer with millions of online followers, along with his younger brother and two Romanian wives, are being investigated for allegedly “forming an organized criminal group, human trafficking humans and rape”.
As part of the investigation, Romanian police raided several properties linked to the Tate brothers and seized many of their possessions, including a collection of luxury cars.
A court document from January says a woman was ‘recruited’ in the UK after falling in love with Andrew Tate, who then brought her to Romania ‘for the purpose of sexually exploiting her’.
In 2016, Tate appeared on the reality TV show “Big Brother” in Britain, but was pulled after a video emerged showing him attacking a woman.
He then took to social media platforms to promote his controversial views before being banned for misogynistic and hate speech.
Tate was allowed to return to Twitter after South African billionaire Elon Musk bought the company.