A Romanian judge ordered that controversial social media influencer and former kickboxer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan be immediately transferred from custody to house arrest.
The decision by the Bucharest Court of Appeal replaces the most recent period of detention, which was set to end on April 29.
According to the BBC, Georgiana Naghel and two other associates, Luana Radu, have also been released.
Unless they have judicial permission to leave, all four have been ordered to remain in their buildings.
The Tate brothers were “ecstatic,” according to a spokeswoman for the BBC.
The brothers have been detained since December and are being investigated for rape, human trafficking, and forming a criminal organization. Both men have denied any wrongdoing.
Andrew Tate’s lawyers have argued that keeping him in preventative custody is unnecessarily harsh, especially when other legal options, such as house arrest, are available.
The BBC obtained court documents that detailed testimony from alleged victims who claimed they were forced to earn €10,000 (£8,800) per month on social media platforms under the threat of physical violence.
Court documents also described the debt as “a form of psychological coercion.”
Prosecutors have identified six women as victims since the investigation began last April.
However, no charges have been filed against the brothers or their two Romanian associates who were arrested with them.
Andrew Tate, a British-American former kickboxer, was kicked off the British TV show Big Brother in 2016 after a video surfaced showing him allegedly assaulting a woman.
He became well-known online, with Twitter banning him for saying that women should “bear responsibility” for sexual assault. He was later reinstated.
Despite social media bans, he rose to prominence, particularly among young men, by promoting a hyper-masculine, ultra-luxurious lifestyle.
Who is Andrew Tate
Emory Andrew Tate is a British-American social media personality, businessman, and former professional kickboxer born on December 1, 1986.
Tate and his younger brother Tristan stated they were poor in England. In interviews, they recalled going to KFC to save other people’s leftover chicken and freezing it for future meals.
Tate was a four-time kickboxing world champion but rose to prominence online.
Videos with the hashtag #AndrewTate have been viewed over 12.7 billion times on TikTok. This figure includes videos made by people who are critical of the influencer.
Tate started kickboxing in 2005 and won his first championship in 2009. He gained wider attention in 2016 when he appeared on the British reality show Big Brother and was fired after his social media comments sparked controversy.
He began selling paid courses and memberships on his website and quickly became an internet celebrity, promoting an “ultra-masculine, ultra-luxurious lifestyle.” Tate, a self-described misogynist, has been suspended from several social media platforms due to his controversial comments.
Tate and his brother, Tristan, were arrested in Romania on December 29, 2022, along with two women; all four are suspected of human trafficking and forming an organized crime group. According to Romanian police, the group coerced victims into creating paid pornography for social media.
Tate has appeared in numerous videos, flaunting an ultra-luxurious lifestyle that includes fast cars, private jets, and yachts.
He had a Twitter spat with environmental activist Greta Thunberg shortly before his arrest in December 2022.
He claimed to own 33 vehicles and promised to send her a list of their “respective enormous emissions.”
Andrew Tate Takes a Stab at Greta Thunberg
https://www.vornews.com/celebrity/andrew-tate-takes-a-stab-at-greta/
