Romanian judge grants 30-day extension of Tate detention

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A judge in Romania has granted a request to extend by another 30 days the arrest of Andrew Tate, the social media personality who was detained in the country on charges of being part of an organised crime group, human trafficking and rape, an official said Friday.

Tate, 36, a British-US citizen who has 4.7 million followers on Twitter, was initially detained on December 29, in Bucharest, Romania's capital. His brother, Tristan, and two Romanian women were arrested and held in the same case.

Ramona Bolla, a spokesperson for Romania's anti-organised crime agency, DIICOT, told The Associated Press that prosecutors requested the second 30-day extension Thursday to keep all four in detention while the investigation continued. A judge approved the request Friday, she said.

The judge's decision at the Bucharest Tribunal came after all four lost an appeal last week in a Bucharest court against a judge's December 30 ruling to extend their arrests from 24 hours to 30 days.

The Tates are also likely to appeal Friday's extension.

Ioan Gliga, a lawyer for the Tate brothers, said he considered the ruling Friday as “totally unjustified.”

After the Tates and the two women were arrested in December, DIICOT said in a statement that it had identified six victims in the human trafficking case who were subjected to “acts of physical violence and mental coercion” and were sexually exploited by the members of the alleged crime group.

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