Andrew Tate, a British-US citizen and social media influencer with a following of 5.4 million on Twitter, has been released from a Romanian jail after three months and moved to house arrest, along with his brother, Tristan. Tate had been arrested in December 2022 on suspicion of organized crime and human trafficking, along with two Romanian women, Naghel Georgiana Manuela and Radu Alexandra Luana. All four have denied the accusations.
The Bucharest court of appeal ruled in favor of Tate and his brother’s appeal, challenging a judge’s decision to extend their arrest for a fourth time for 30 days. While they have been released to house arrest until 29 April, none of them have yet been formally indicted.
Tate’s communications director, Mateea Petrescu, confirmed that they are not a flight risk and pose no danger to public safety. However, they are still under investigation, and their house arrest is just a small step towards their freedom.
Tate, a former professional kickboxer and self-proclaimed misogynist, has been living in Romania since 2017. He is banned from having an account on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for violating rules on “dangerous individuals” and breaching hate speech rules. Tate was suspended from Twitter in 2017 but allowed back in November 2022.
The Romanian authorities have accused Tate and his associates of trafficking six victims who were allegedly subjected to physical violence, mental coercion, and sexual exploitation by members of the alleged crime group. The victims were lured with the pretense of love and later coerced into engaging in pornographic acts for the financial gain of the crime group.
In January, Romanian authorities seized goods and money worth almost £3.25m from Tate’s compound, including a fleet of luxury cars. Tate has repeatedly claimed that the Romanian prosecutors have no evidence and alleged their case is a political conspiracy designed to silence him.
Despite their release to house arrest, the investigation into Tate and his associates’ alleged crimes is ongoing.