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BUCHAREST, Romania — A court Tuesday evening denied divisive internet personality Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan’s appeal of their detention on charges related to human trafficking and coercing women into participating in online pornography.
Earlier in the day, Tate — a former kickboxing champion and self-described misogynist — got out of a police van handcuffed to his brother as they arrived at a court in Bucharest to appeal a judge’s decision to hold them for up to 30 days as prosecutors seek to send them to trial. Tate appeared to be holding a Quran as his brother waved to reporters outside.
Ramona Bolla, a spokesperson for the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), confirmed the court’s decision Tuesday.
Vidineac Eugen, who is representing the Tate brothers, said Tuesday before the decision that he would have no comment.
The brothers and two Romanian female associates were arrested last month. In addition to human trafficking, the suspects were charged with forming an organized crime group. One was also charged with rape; authorities have declined to identify that person, citing local laws.
Andrew Tate, brother charged in Romania with human trafficking
DIICOT said in a statement Dec. 29 that it had identified six people who were recruited and then sexually abused in Ilfov county, which surrounds the capital, Bucharest.
Authorities said that the victims were coerced into participating in pornography for distribution on social media and that one of the suspects twice raped a victim in March. The statement, which did not name the suspects, said the victims faced “acts of physical violence and mental coercion.”
The Tates were legally in the country, Bolla said in an interview on Dec. 30, noting that the investigation started in April after the U.S. Embassy called the Romanian authorities with information that a U.S. citizen was being held involuntarily at a house in Ilfov.
Who is Andrew Tate, ‘king of toxic masculinity,’ accused of trafficking?
Police said the four suspects organized a group in early 2021, conspiring to commit human trafficking, not just in Romania but also in the United States and Britain. Conviction in Romania on charges of human trafficking can carry penalties of between three and 10 years in prison. For rape, penalties can be between five and 10 years.
Andrew Tate, an internet personality and former kickboxing champion, and his brother were detained in Romania on Dec. 29. (Video: Obsevator Antena 1)
Police earlier reported a search of two properties in April in Ilfov county, in which they said they seized assets related to the case. The Tates’ detention came after police executed five home search warrants, police said. The alleged American victim is no longer in the country, Bolla said. The other five alleged victims are Romanian or Moldovan.
Sorcher reported from London, Morris from Erkelenz, Germany. Timothy Bella and Kelsey Ables contributed to this report.
