Controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan are being moved to house arrest, following a ruling by a Romanian judge on Friday.
The brothers had been detained in a Romanian jail for the last three months following their arrests on suspicion of human trafficking and organized crime. The two won their appeal to replace their detention with house arrest, the Associated Press reports.
A spokesperson with Romania’s anti-organized crime agency, DIICOT told the AP that The Bucharest Court of Appeal ruled in favor of Tate’s appeal, which challenged a judge’s decision last week to extend his arrest a fourth time for 30 days. Tate's lawyer contended that detaining them in pre-trial detention was excessively severe considering that alternative judicial measures like being placed under house arrest were possible.
Following his release, Andrew Tate took to social media, posting a surreal video of the influencer pacing around his living room. He tweeted: "Since last year I've been in 24-hour lockdown. No yard time. Pacing a 3-metre cell with zero electronics or outside contact. Absolute clarity of mind. Real thoughts. Real plans. Vivid pain. One hour home and I can't stand my phone. Some habits die hard. We must defeat Shaytan."
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His brother Tristan also tweeted following his release saying "4 months without putting on a pair of alligator shoes. The struggle was real."
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The two brothers have denied any wrongdoing in the claims of rape, human trafficking, and organized crime. Following the success of their appeal, Tristan told a scrum of reporters that he is an "innocent man" and that "the judges today made the right decision."
Leaked court documents obtained by the BBC allege that the Tate brothers were coercing victims of a webcam-based moneymaking scheme to hit certain quotas through financial and physical intimidation. Tate states that he and his brother earned their fortune by running an adult webcam studio and making footage available at the "myfreecams" website.
Andrew Tate, a former professional kickboxer and dual British-U.S. citizen, owes his fame to his time spent on Big Brother in 2016 before ultimately being kicked off the show over domestic violence allegations. Tate has been in Romania since 2017, having left the UK following a domestic violence investigation. As Tate claimed on video, 40 percent of the reason he moved to Romania was because of their "lax laws on sexual assault."
He gained further notoriety online through his podcast and MLM scheme "Hustler's University," which focuses on teaching young men the basics of picking up women and making money. The self-described misogynist has garnered attention online for his politics and views on women. Despite several social media bans, Tate still proves to be a popular figure among young men.
As the BBC reports, since investigations began last April, "six women have been identified by prosecutors as victims." As of now, no charges have been filed against the brothers.
