After years of hopping from one social media platform to another, making hateful, incendiary remarks about women and people of colour, right-wing misogynist influencer Andrew Tate now finds himself detained in custody in Romania’s capital, Bucharest under suspicion of organised crime and human trafficking.
The 36-year old British-US citizen is most famously known for being kicked off of prominent social media platforms for his hate speech, though he remains 4.6 million followers-strong on Twitter.
Let’s take a look at why he was detained and what he faces in the near future.
The December 2022 arrest
In late December, Tate and his brother, Tristan were detained and charged with human trafficking and forming an organised crime group.
DIICOT, a Romanian anti-organised-crime unit, accused the suspects of recruiting and sexually abusing a number of women as early as 2021, subjecting them to “acts of physical violence and mental coercion.”
Romanian prosecutors released a statement claiming they had identified six people who were coerced into taking part in pornography for distribution on social media, with one of the victims claiming she was raped twice earlier in the year.
DIICOT received the green light from a judge to detain the brothers (plus two female suspects) for 30 days. While they were detained, the quartet appealed the decision, though it was rejected by the judge on January 10.
If convicted on charges of human trafficking, Tate can face up to 10 years in prison.
A spokesperson told reporters at this time, “Andrew and Tristan Tate have the utmost respect for the Romanian authorities and will always assist and help in any way they can,” while Andrew’s talent agent said in an email which was cited by The Washington Post that the allegations of human trafficking were “an orchestrated hoax put on by the matrix.”
In mid-January, their pre-trial police detention was extended to February 27, with the judge claiming in a statement he wished to safeguard the investigation and ensure “the suspects’ presence at any future trial”, due to Tate’s “particular dangerousness” and “capacity and effort to exercise permanent psychological control over the victims… including by resorting to constant acts of violence”.
A few days later, during an interview with Romania’s organised crime unit, Tate said the case was “empty” and that “they know we have done nothing wrong”.
The Tates then launched yet another appeal against the judge’s January 20 decision.
What does he face now?
In the last 24 hours, a Romanian court has upheld the 30-day detention, rejecting this second appeal — meaning Tate will remain in custody until February 27.
“It’s no secret that the Tate brothers are controversial public personas, but this is not about their public persona,” the Tates’ lawyer, Tina Glandian said. ”This is about the violation of international human rights and the due process of law.”
“The defence team made extensive legal arguments pointing out the lack of evidence against the Tate brothers.”
“So far the system has failed. The Tate brothers, who are both US citizens, have been in jail for over 30 days now without bail and without any charges filed against them.”
Tate told reporters last week, “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.”
On Sunday, a post on his Twitter account read: “My case is not criminal, it’s political. It’s not about justice or fairness. It’s about attacking my influence on the world.”
Why did he go to Romania?
Tate relocated to Romania in 2017, claiming in a now deleted YouTube video that “forty percent” of the reason he moved to the country was because he believed sexual assault cases are less likely to be investigated there.
“I’m not a f***ing rapist, but I like the idea of just being able to do what I want. I like being free,” he said.
“If you’re a man living in England or Germany or America or any of the Western world right now you’ve decided to live in a country where any woman … at any point in the future can destroy your life.”
Online Petition
In January, an online petition was launched to “Free Andrew and Tristan Tate from unjust imprisonment”.
The petition, which has so far garnered almost 100,000 signatures, states “the judiciary, prosecutor and Diicot have acted unfairly in their detention of the Tate brothers”.
“The world is watching and there is little confidence in the Romanian judicial system based on these events, and indeed due to their history and reputation of widespread corruption,” the petition claims.
“The UK and US should ensure their nationals are subject to the highest level of legal rights.”