Andrew Tate has been released from house arrest following a successful appeal at a court in Romania.
The controversial social media influencer was charged in June with human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. His brother Tristan and two Romanian women are also charged in the case.
They are alleged to have formed a criminal group in 2021 “to commit the crime of human trafficking” in Romania, as well as in the UK and US. All four deny the allegations.
The suspects were held in police custody from December until March before a Bucharest court put them under house arrest.
In a written ruling on Friday, the Bucharest Court of Appeals said that it “replaces the house arrest measure with that of judicial control for a period of 60 days from 4 August until 2 October.”
“After 10 months. 3 in jail, 7 at home. After 15 million euro of asset seizures. After an inditement [sic] based on nothing. The file was passed to a Judge who has ruled it weak and circumstantial. I have been released from house arrest but must remain within Romania,” Tate posted on Twitter after the ruling.
Speaking outside his home in Bucharest, Tate later told reporters: “In January when I was thrown into a jail cell the media reported and told the world that I was a terrible person, they said that I hurt people and that I make a lot of money from a criminal enterprise.
“Here we stand seven or eight months later and I have not seen a single victim on the news, I have seen lots of girls sticking up for me, lots of people defending me, I’ve not seen a single person stand up and say that I have hurt them, not one.
“It’s very exhausting to continue to perpetuate lies, it’s very hard to keep lies afloat when you have no actual evidence, we’ve been completely innocent since the beginning of this and I have to give absolute faith to the Romanian judicial system for finally making the right decision in letting us free.”
Tate, 36, who has lived in Romania since 2017, has repeatedly claimed prosecutors have no evidence and alleged their case is a political conspiracy designed to silence him.
Investigators said the seven alleged victims were recruited following false claims of love, and were taken to Ilfov in Romania where they were forced to take part in pornography.
The women were allegedly controlled by ‘intimidation, constant surveillance’ and claims that they were in debt, prosecutors said. They have ordered the confiscation of assets from the Tate brothers including 15 luxury cars, luxury watches and about €2.9million they held in cryptocurrency.
