Former professional kickboxer and controversial influencer Andrew Tate appeared in a Romanian court Friday following his arrest for alleged human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal group.
The move came just days after Tate had a heated Twitter exchange with Swedish environmentalist Greta Thunberg which internet users speculated helped Romanian police to locate and arrest him.
Tate, who holds British and US nationality, and his brother Tristan were detained for an initial โ24 hoursโ, a spokeswoman for a Romanian body fighting organised crime, Ramona Bolla, told AFP on Friday.
A court hearing in Bucharest to decide whether to put the four suspects โ the Tate brothers and two Romanian citizens โ in pre-trial detention for 30 days began at 2:00 pm (1200 GMT).
Viral Twitter exchanges between Tate and Thunberg this week on subjects ranging from cars with โenormous emissionsโ to pizza boxes, fuelled speculation on social media that the arrests followed Tateโs spats with the Swedish activist.
Internet users speculated that the brand of pizza featured in a video posted by Tate in his angry exchanges with Thunberg helped police confirm Tateโs presence in Romania.
Thunberg quipped on Twitter that โthis is what happens when you donโt recycle your pizza boxesโ.
โItโs not related,โ spokeswoman Bolla told AFP.
โTo determine whether a person is in the country or not, we use a whole range of meansโ, she added, stressing that โarrest warrants and searchesโ had already been in place.
Greta Thunbergโs spokesperson confirmed to AFP that her tweet this morning, which garnered about 1.6 million likes so far, was in fact a โjokeโ, adding that the Romanian authorities โhave not been in touch with her.โ
Since the beginning of 2021, the prosecution has been investigating the suspects and had already searched Tateโs villa in April.
According to a DIICOT statement issued Thursday, the influencer, his brother and two Romanians are suspected of โorganised crimesโ, โrapeโ and โhuman traffickingโ in several countries.
So far six potential victims have been identified.
The suspects recruited and exploited women by coercing them into โforced labourโฆ and pornographic acts with a view to producing and disseminating such materialโ online to โobtain substantial financial benefitsโ.
Five locations were raided across Romania as part of the investigation.
Tate appeared on the Big Brother television show in 2016, but was removed after a video emerged showing him attacking a woman.
Tate, who moved to Romania several years ago with Tristan, has been banned from many social media platforms for misogynistic remarks and hate speech, but was allowed back on Twitter after Elon Musk bought the company.
