A court in Romania has upheld the 30-day arrest of influencer Andrew Tate on charges of organised crime, human trafficking and rape.
A spokesperson for Romanian anti-organised crime agency DIICOT, said that a court in the capital Bucharest had rejected an appeal by Tate against a judge’s earlier decision to extend his arrest from 24 hours to 30 days.
The controversial social media influencer had been waiting on Tuesday for the court to rule.
Tate, 36, a British-US citizen who has 4.4 million followers on Twitter, was initially detained for 24 hours on 29 December along with his brother Tristan, who was charged in the same case.
Two Romanian women were also taken into custody.
All four immediately challenged the arrest extension a judge granted to prosecutors on 30 December.
A document explaining the judge’s motivation for the extension said “the possibility of them evading investigations cannot be ignored” and they could “leave Romania and settle in countries that do not allow extradition”.
Andrew Tate appears in court over rape and human trafficking charges
Andrew Tate’s Twitter account used to protest his innocence after human trafficking arrest
Greta Thunberg takes another swipe at Andrew Tate over pizza boxes after his arrest in Romania
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After the raids in December, Romania’s anti-organised crime agency DIICOT said it had identified six victims in the case who were subjected by the group to “acts of physical violence and mental coercion” and were sexually exploited by group members.
The agency said victims were lured under the pretence of a romantic relationship, then later, through physical violence and mental intimidation, forced to perform pornographic acts for social media sites which generated large financial gains.
