Andrew Tate has lost his appeal against further detention in a Romanian prison for sex trafficking charges. Tate, 36, a British-US citizen who has nearly five million followers on Twitter and his brother, Tristan, 34, were arrested in December on suspicion of human trafficking, rape and forming an organised crime group to exploit women. Two Romanian women were arrested in December in connection with the charges.
The court rejected all four appeals and the accused will remain in custody until February 27 as prosecutors continue investigating the case.
As Tate was escorted from the Bucharest Court of Appeals with his brother and their two alleged female accomplices, he hit out at what he suggested was a sham trial based on “no evidence”.
“Ask them for evidence and they will give you none because it doesn’t exist,” Tate shouted as he was escorted from the court into a police van.
“You will find out the truth of this case soon.”
An online petition launched in January to free the brothers has garnered nearly 100,000 signatures.
After the Tates and the two women were arrested, Romania’s anti-organised crime agency, DIICOT, said in a statement that it had identified six victims in the human trafficking case who were subjected to “acts of physical violence and mental coercion” and were sexually exploited by members of the alleged crime group.
The agency said victims were lured with pretenses of love, and later intimidated, surveilled and subjected to other control tactics while being coerced into engaging in pornographic acts for substantial financial gains.
Ioan Gliga, a lawyer representing the Tate brothers, told the media Wednesday before the court ruled that the defense presented “solid arguments” that the extended detention period “is not necessary”.
