Romania: Influencer Andrew Tate released and placed under house arrest

Europe 1 with AFP 22:54 p.m., March 31, 2023

The American-British influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan, arrested at the end of December in Romania in a case of pimping, were released on appeal Friday and will be placed under house arrest, according to a decision of the judges confirmed to AFP by the prosecutor's office. "The proposal of the prosecutor's office to extend the pre-trial detention is rejected" and "this preventive measure is replaced" by a "house arrest" with immediate effect, the Bucharest Court of Appeal ordered Friday.

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An empty file supported by no hard evidence?

The detention of the two brothers, who maintain their innocence and denounce their imprisonment, had been extended several times, most recently on 22 March, again at the request of prosecutors. Arriving at the scene, one of their lawyers, Eugen Vidineac, said he had not been informed of the details of this decision, according to an AFP journalist present at the scene. Since their incarceration, their defence has regularly denounced an empty file supported by no tangible evidence and denied any risk of going abroad, arguing their clients' links with the country. Tristan Tate is the father of a baby born during his detention.

With them, two Romanian women, a former police officer and Andrew Tate's girlfriend are released. They had been arrested alongside them on 29 December during a vast operation carried out after several months of investigation. Andrew Tate, 36, and Tristan, 34, are suspected of having deceived "several victims, including minors" for the purpose of "sexual exploitation" including for the production of pornographic films, according to the prosecutor's office in charge of the fight against organized crime (DIICOT).

Andrew Tate is a former kickboxing world champion. He first came to prominence by appearing on the reality show Big Brother, in the United Kingdom, in 2016. But he was quickly eliminated after a video surfaced showing him hitting a woman.

Tate promotes masculinist theses

He then turned to social media and has millions of followers online. He promotes masculinist theses, fascinating teenagers in the Anglo-Saxon world and beyond with his bulging muscles, cigars and luxury cars. His name is one of the most searched on Google. He has been suspended in the past from several social networks for misogynistic remarks. His Twitter account, now followed by 5.4 million followers, was restored when billionaire Elon Musk bought the social network. He gives advice to men to help them become rich.