Andrew Tate, an influencer known for hate speech, will, together with his brother Tristan, be transferred from a Romanian prison to house arrest in this country.
The Tate brothers are suspected of organized crime, human trafficking and rape, and their transfer was ordered by a Romanian court, reports .
Both Endru and Tristan deny the allegations. Both were detained in December 2022, but have not yet been officially charged.
Romanian police alleged last year that the brothers and their aides formed an organized crime group that stretched from Romania to Britain and the United States for the purpose of human trafficking.
BREAKING: Andrew Tate (@Cobratate) released from prison after three months behind barshttps://t.co/PDzZyNQJGK
— ALX (@alx)March 31, 2023
Authorities said some victims were misled “to believe they were entering into marriage or cohabitation” and were later sexually exploited with physical violence and coercion..
According to the indictment, at least six victims were sexually exploited by an organized criminal group, according to a statement from the Romanian Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT).
Authorities also allege that one of the suspects raped the victim on two separate occasions in March 2022.
BREAKING: Andrew Tate, the divisive internet personality who has spent months in a Romanian jail on suspicion of organized crime and human trafficking, has won an appeal to replace his detention with house arrest, an official said Friday.https://t.co/Uds4bDInJG
— The Associated Press (@AP)March 31, 2023
The brothers insisted on their innocence.
“There is no evidence in my file because I have done nothing wrong. Everyone knows I am innocent”Andrew Tate said in January, after being taken in for questioning.
As he was being led to DIICOT headquarters, he added: “There is no justice in Romania”.
Joan Gliga, one of the Tate brothers’ lawyers, told reporters at the time: “We are confident that the evidence is in favor of our clients.”
Tate came to the fore when he appeared on reality TV show Big Brother in 2016, but was kicked out after a video surfaced showing him hitting a woman with a belt.
He has since gained notoriety online for his outrageous and offensive comments, including some suggesting that women “bear some responsibility” for the attack. Before his Instagram account was taken down, he had amassed more than four million followers.
The multi-millionaire also runs an online pyramid scheme called University of Hustlers, which claims to teach people how to make money.
Clips about Tate have also become popular on both YouTube and TikTok – videos using the hashtag of his name have been viewed more than 13 billion times on TikTok alone.
However, he does not have an official TikTok account, and a spokesperson for the platform says:
“Misogyny is a hateful ideology that will not be tolerated on TikTok. We’ve been removing offending videos and accounts for weeks and welcome the news that other platforms are taking action against this person. Tate is a real threat”.
Tate has come under fire for his views, and his content has been labeled as dangerous for young men and boys who follow him online.
(WORLD)