Social media personality, Andrew Tate and his brother, Tristan, have been charged with rape, human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to exploit women, prosecutors in Romania said Tuesday.
Tate, 36, a British-U.S. citizen known for misogynistic views who has 5.1 million Twitter followers, was arrested on 29 December, when authorities descended on his property north of Bucharest.
His brother, Tristan, and two Romanian women also are in custody in the same case.
Romania’s anti-organized crime agency, DIICOT, said prosecutors filed the charges against the brothers, who are both British-U.S. dual citizens, along with two Romanian women.
In a statement, the agency said that the four defendants formed a criminal group in 2021 “in order to commit the crime of human trafficking” in Romania as well as the United States and Britain.
It alleged that seven female victims were misled and transported to Romania, where they were sexually exploited and subjected to physical violence by the gang.
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The brothers won an appeal on 31 March to be moved from Police custody to house arrest.
Tate, 36, is a professional kickboxer with millions of Twitter followers. He has resided in Romania since 2017, and was previously banned from various social media platforms for expressing misogynistic views and hate speech.
He has repeatedly claimed Romanian prosecutors have no evidence and alleged their case is a political conspiracy designed to silence him.
“Tate’s legal team are prepared to cooperate fully with the appropriate authorities, presenting all necessary evidence to exonerate the brothers and expose any misinterpretations or false accusations,” Petrescu said.
AFP