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Romanian court rejects influencer Andrew Tate's bail request

March 14, 2023

The social media influencer and self-described misogynist failed in his attempt to seek release on bail. Romanian courts have previously described him as a flight risk.

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Police officers escort Andrew Tate handcuffed to his brother Tristan
Andrew Tate will not be released on bail after the court turned down his requestImage: Andreea Alexandru/AP Photo/picture alliance

A Romanian court turned down a request by social media personality Andrew Tate to be granted bail following his arrest in late December.

Tate and his brother, Tristan, are the subjects of a criminal investigation into sex trafficking. They were arrested along with two Romanian women. None have yet been formally charged.

The 36-year-old British-US citizen requested that the court replace his detention in police custody with a restricted release on bail.

The court in Bucharest said such a move was "inadmissible in principle."

Romanian prosecutors are investigating whether brothers recruited women by seducing them and promising relationships or even marriage, only to then coerce them into producing pornographic content.

Courts extend detention

Before his arrest, Tate built a massive following online of mostly young men by generating hours of misogynistic content.

Tate has been living in Romania since 2017.

How misogynists take over social media

The Tate brothers have seen their detention pending investigation extended three times already, each time for a further 30 days. Their current detention is until March 29, but courts can extend detention for up to 180 days in total.

Tate lost an appeal to stop a previous extension in February. The court will respond to a bail request from Tristan on Wednesday.

Tate tries to evade investigation

Romanian public broadcaster TVR reported that Tate had pinned his bail request on the claim that he was ill and the conditions of his arrest were putting his life at risk.

The self-described misogynist has made other attempts to defend himself from legal consequences.

According to wiretaps of his phone calls submitted by prosecutors to the court, Tate tried to get Romanian lawmakers on his side and attempted to intimidate several alleged victims.

The onetime kickboxer has said repeatedly that prosecutors have no evidence on him and that his arrest was a "political" conspiracy.

A court document from January justifying a previous extension of the brothers' detention pointed to "the possibility of them evading investigations cannot be ignored," adding that they could "leave Romania and settle in countries that do not allow extradition."

ab/ar (AP, Reuters)