Romania releases influencer Andrew Tate from prison

After three months in custody in Bucharest, British-American influencer Andrew Tate and three suspected accomplices are released from prison. Instead, the four, who are accused of sexually exploiting young women, have been placed under house arrest. That was decided by the Bucharest Court of Appeal on Friday evening, as reported by the Romanian news agency Mediafax.

The house arrest should apply for 30 days. After that, at the request of the public prosecutor's office, the court should again decide whether the house arrest should be extended, whether a new detention should be imposed or whether the four should be set free. On Friday, the court of appeal decided on an application by the four to end pre-trial detention, which a lower court had extended until the end of April.

The four suspects were arrested on December 30, 2022. Prosecutors allege that Andrew Tate, his brother Tristan Tate and two Romanian women formed an organized crime group to sexually exploit women. They are said to have forced young women to take part in commercially distributed sex videos. So far, six victims have been identified. The Tate brothers deny the allegations.

Andrew Tate rose to fame in 2016 when he was kicked out of Britain's Big Brother show after a video of him hitting a woman with a belt broke. Tate, a former professional kickboxer, has been living in Romania since 2017. Because of misogynist and inflammatory statements, he was blocked on several online platforms. Shortly before his arrest, he had an online dispute with climate activist Greta Thunberg. He has accused prosecutors of being part of a political conspiracy to silence him.