Notorious social media influencer Andrew Tate has been released from prison in Romania and has been placed under house arrest. The 36 year old has been in prison since the end of December 2022 over human trafficking charges, along with his brother Tristan Tate and two female accomplices.
All four are now out of prison and under house arrest after Tate won an appeal in the Bucharest Court, challenging the extension of his arrest for 30 days a fourth time. His previous appeals were dismissed by the court.
Andrew Tate Released from Prison, Placed Under House Arrest
The former kickboxer will now be under house arrest until April 29. The official document reads that the court ‘rejects the proposal to extend the duration of the preventive arrest measure…regarding the defendants Tate III Emory Andrew, Tate Tristan, Naghel Georgiana Manuela, and Radu Alexandra Luana.’
“[The court] replaces the measure of preventive detention ordered against the defendants…with the preventive measure of house arrest, for a period of 30 days. It orders the immediate release of the defendants.”
Mateea Petrescu, communications director for Tate, released a statement following the release and said, “They are not a flight risk and they are not a danger to public safety, therefore [the authorities] have decided to release them under house arrest.”
“[It’s] just a small step — they are still under investigation. They are absolutely ecstatic. They kept their spirits [in jail], they are really thrilled and looking forward to being at home – they have kept their optimism throughout,” she added.
Tate was Arrested in December Last Year
Andrew, along with his brother and the two Romanian women, were arrested on December 29, 2022, on suspicion of organized crime and human trafficking. However, none of the four have been officially charged yet. They have pleaded not guilty to the crimes.
Six victims were identified by Romania’s anti-organized crime agency, Diicot, who were ‘subjected to acts of physical violence and mental coercion’ and ‘sexually exploited’ by the group. The victims were reportedly intimated to engage in pornographic acts for financial gain. Diicot seized assets worth £3.25 million from Tate’s home during of his arrest.
The Influencer is Infamous for his Misogynistic Views
Tate started his career as a kickboxer but soon became infamous for his misogynistic views. In 2016, he was thrown out of the British TV show Big Brother after a video of him attacking a woman surfaced online. Ever since, he gained notoriety for his inappropriate comments.
He was banned from Twitter for saying ‘women should bear responsibility for being sexually assaulted,’ but his account was later reinstated. Tate has over 5.4 million followers on the platform, some of whom are influenced by his lavish lifestyle and hypermasculinity. He was also removed from Instagram, where he had some 4.6 million followers.
Andrew Tate has been living in Romania since 2017. Regarding his arrest and charges, he has claimed that the case has been framed by political powers to silence him and that the Romanian prosecutors have no evidence against him.
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