01 February 2023 , 16:46
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Former kickboxing world champion Andrew Tate has lost his latest appeal against his detention in relation to an investigation into human-trafficking and organised crime.
Tate and his brother Tristan have been detained in Romania since the end of January as part of an investigation into alleged human trafficking, rape and forming an organised crime group. They were detained for 30 days and were due for release at the end of January, but a Romanian court ruled their detention could be extended to February 27.
And that extension will remain in place after the British-American brothers had their latest appeal turned down this afternoon. Tate, 36, a British-US citizen who has nearly five million followers on Twitter, arrived at the Bucharest Court of Appeal on Wednesday morning handcuffed to his brother, 34.
After cultivating an image as stylish playboys during their days as social media celebrities, the pair looked noticeably disheveled as they entered the courtroom. As he left several hours later, Tate said: "Ask them for evidence and they will give you none, because it doesn’t exist. You’ll find out the truth of this case soon."
Andrew and Tristan Tate arrived at court earlier todayTristan, a former European kickboxing champion and also a big name on social media, is held in the same case along with two Romanian women. All four, who were initially detained in Bucharest in late December, will look to overturn a judge's January 20 decision to extend for a second time their detention by 30 days at the request of prosecutors.
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They previously lost an appeal against an earlier extension.
It had been determined during their last hearing that the brothers will remain in custody until February 27 as prosecutors continue investigating the case. Tate, who has lived in Romania since 2017, was previously banned from various prominent social media platforms for expressing misogynistic views and hate speech.
He has insisted there is "zero evidence" against him in the case and alleged it is instead a political attack to silence him. "My case is not criminal, it's political. It's not about justice or fairness. It's about attacking my influence on the world," read a post that appeared on his Twitter account on Sunday.
An online petition launched in January to free the brothers has garnered nearly 100,000 signatures. Fans have also protested the arrest in many major European cities, with large crowds gathering to spread their "Free Top G" message, referencing Andrew's infamous online nickname.
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 the members of the alleged crime group.
The agency said victims were lured with pretences of love, and later intimidated, kept under surveillance and subjected to other control tactics while being coerced into engaging in pornographic acts for substantial financial gains. Earlier in January, Romanian authorities descended on a compound near Bucharest where they towed away a fleet of luxury cars that included a blue Rolls-Royce, a Ferrari and a Porsche. They reported seizing assets worth an estimated 3.9 million dollars (£3.1 million).
Prosecutors have said that if they can prove the owners gained money through illicit activities such as human trafficking, the assets would be used to cover the expenses of the investigation and to compensate victims. Tate also unsuccessfully appealed the asset seizure.
Right before his arrest, Tate had found himself in a Twitter feud with Greta Thunberg after sending a mocking tweet to the 19-year-old climate activist. Her responses to the former fighter both garnered enough likes within just days to land in the most liked posts in the site's history.