"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.

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.

Muscles and cigars

With them are released two Romanians, a former police officer and Andrew Tate's girlfriend. 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 the production of pornographic films, according to the prosecutor's office in charge of the fight against organized crime (DIICOT).

British-American influencer Andrew Tate (2nd rd) and his brother Tristan (2nd l) escorted by police to the court in Bucharest, on February 1, 2023 in Romania © Daniel MIHAILESCU / AFP / Archives

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.

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 protruding 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.

© 2023 AFP