Divisive social media personality Andrew Tate detained for a month in Romania
Dec 31, 2022
Bucharest [Romania], December 31 : A Romania court ordered a month-long detention of divisive social media personality Andrew Tate and his brother in connection with human trafficking and rape case.
Tate, his brother Tristan and two others had been detained for an initial 24 hours, CNN reported citing, Romania's Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT).
The report said that a Bucharest court accepted an application by DIICOT to hold Tate in custody for a further 30 days. Addressing journalists outside the court, Tate's lawyer Eugen Vidineac said the decision would be appealed.
"From our perspective, there are no grounds for taking the most drastic preventive measures provided by the criminal procedure code," he added, according to Reuters news agency.
DIICOT alleged that the four suspects formed an organized criminal group to commit the crime of human trafficking.
They alleged that two of the suspects misled the victims "into believing that they intended to enter into a marriage/cohabitation relationship" while transporting the victims to Romania.
The authorities also said one of the suspects raped a victim on two separate occasions in March this year.
Tate, who is famous for his controversial behaviour over social media, is a former kickboxer with 76 wins and nine losses in his kickboxing career, as per the UK-based Sports Bible.
The social media influencer was in news recently after he got involved in a heated spat with Swedish activist Greta Thunberg on Twitter, which later went viral.
Tate, who is well-known for his many misogynistic remarks, started the argument by tagging Thunberg in a tweet about his 33 vehicles and their emissions, which contribute to pollution, according to New York Post.
Taking to Twitter, Tate wrote, "Hello @GretaThunberg I have 33 cars. My Bugatti has a w16 8.0L quad turbo. My TWO Ferrari 812 competizione have 6.5L v12s. This is just the start. Please provide your email address so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions."
To which, Thunberg responded with a stinging jab and wrote "yes, please do enlighten me."