Andrew Tate latest news: No evidence for trafficking or rape charges against brothers, says lawyer

Andrew Tate is no stranger to controversy.

The former kickboxer and social media influencer, who has gained notoriety over the years for peddling misogynistic views, was detained in Romania on Thursday 29 December on suspicion of human trafficking, rape, and forming an organised crime group, prosecutors said.

Mr Tate and his brother – who have reportedly been under investigation since April – will be detained for 30 days.

Here’s everything you need to know:

When influencer Andrew Tate was arrested in Romania during a police raid, he was detained alongside three other people – one of them, his brother (Thomas Kingsley writes).

Tristan Tate, who is also a former kickboxer turned social media influencer, was detained in December as part of an investigation into human trafficking and rape by Romania’s anti-organised crime agency Didcot.

While the headlines around the arrest focused on the more famous Andrew Tate, his brother is less well known.

Below we look at everything we do know about him as the investigation into his alleged offences continues.

Romanian authorities have seized a collection of cars belonging to misogynistic social media influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan (Maya Oppenheim writes).

It comes days after the 36-year-old self-avowed “success coach” was arrested as part of a human trafficking investigation.

Mr Tate, who once appeared briefly on Big Brother, has referred to married women as “property” that their husbands own.

In footage where Mr Tate talks about feminism, the former kickboxer claims women should “shut the f*** up, have kids, sit at home, be quiet and make coffee”.

Romanian authorities seized the car collection, estimated to be worth over five million euros, as well a number of buildings including one where the brothers lived and allegedly held six young women, according to a local news report.

In a video with translated subtitles posted on Andrew Tate‘s Twitter account, Eugen Vidineac, lawyer for Mr Tate and his brother Tristan, said it took the brothers “some time to understand” why they were in custody.

The brothers, who both have British citizenship, were arrested alongside two Romanians on 29 December as part of an investigation into organised crime, human trafficking and rape.

The pair intend to appeal.

Mr Vidineac earlier said there was no evidence for the allegations against Mr Tate and his co-accused.

More from Eugen Vidineac, the lawyer representing the Tate brothers:

Speaking about claims the men had contempt for women, Mr Vidineac said: “They say that these issues are ripped out of context, out of some interviews they have done on social media.

“But they also say, if we live our lives surrounded by over 300 people, women and men, we have a lot of girlfriends and supporters all over the world, we’ve been out in public all the time with our girlfriends and there have been no complaints from our girlfriends.

“People have come out in public and said that they’ve been with one of the Tate brothers and he’s not a violent, uneducated, abusive character as he is being portrayed at this point.”

Mr Tate has been the subject of much criticism in recent weeks, primarily for his views on women, which have been denounced as misogynistic.

In one video in which he is seen discussing feminism, Tate said women should “shut the f*** up, have kids, sit at home, be quiet and make coffee”.

Eugen Vidineac, who represents Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan, told Romanian online newspaper Gandul that the far-right influencer’s online persona could not be used against him in court.

The lawyer said he believed the character someone like Mr Tate portrays on social media could not be used as evidence in a criminal trial as it may not reflect who they are in real life.

Speaking about what role social media may play in the case, Mr Vidineac said: “In the case of the Tate brothers, I don’t know what their intent was in promoting themselves on social media, but I sit here and wonder, can that intent from the social media stand as evidence in a criminal prosecution case, with respect to a criminal character?”

Romanian anti-organised crime agency Diicot said two British citizens and two Romanians were suspected of being part of a criminal group focused on human trafficking on 29 December.

Their appeals will be heard against a judge’s decision to extend their arrest warrants from 24 hours to 30 days, Diicot added.

The lawyer representing Andrew Tate has said there is “no evidence” to support allegations of human trafficking, rape or organised crime against the 36-year-old social media influencer or his brother Tristan.

Eugen Vidineac, who represents both brothers, told Romanian online newspaper Gandul the defence had not been given the opportunity to study the prosecution file for the case.

The lawyer said several electronic devices were seized in April last year which were subject to computer searches.

He added: “I will point this out from the beginning, that even up to the present moment, the criminal investigation file has not been made available to us to ensure the effective defence of our clients.

“In this sense, I would like to point out, at least from this point of view, I am also somehow amazed, there is not a single piece of evidence apart from the victim’s statement that leads to the idea that a crime of rape was committed.”

Asked what evidence there was in support of a human trafficking offence, Mr Vidineac said: “In my view, there is no evidence there either, and I’m talking about evidence leading, by itself or directly, to the formation of an opinion of reasonable suspicion regarding the commission of offences provided for and punishable by criminal law.”

Andrew Tate’s account posted another tweet referencing the “Matrix”, after an earlier post which said it was responsible for “attacking him”.

Mr Tate has previously claimed to believe that reality is a “Matrix” – referring to the dystopian Keanu Reeves sci-film where people are led by computers to work until they die.

The latest tweet from his account, which also shared a message attributed to Mr Tate’s lawyer, read: “The Matrix does not play fair, they play to win.”

In a recent exchange with climate activist Greta Thunberg, Tate posted a bizarre video in which he accused Ms Thunberg of being a “slave of the Matrix”.

Sufyan Ahmed’s take on the toxic culture behind the jailed influencer: News of Andrew Tate’s arrest has been met with relief by many hoping this will bring an end to his relevance. However, in my view (and experience) the damage is done. Tate’s views, amplified by social media, has already led to huge numbers of young men from my generation being manipulated, and without urgent intervention we may end up with a lost generation of young men. Let me tell you what I’ve seen.

There is no denying the immense reach Tate achieved. He was the most Googled man over the summer of 2022. Videos with his hashtag have amassed 13 billion views on TikTok. His mentoring scheme currently has 160,000 paying subscribers.

Once you delve into what Tate preaches to the masses, his social media reach is terrifying. Tate has made comments such as, “women bear some responsibility for rape”; has compared women to dogs and proudly confessed in one video with a fellow YouTuber to being an “absolute misogynist”, stating that he was in fact a “realist” and “when you’re a realist, you’re sexist”. The amplification of these views should terrify everyone.

Speculation over Andrew Tate’s hospitalisation stems from a report by Antena 3, a CNN-partnered Romania newssite.

The report read: “Yesterday he [Tate] was taken out of the Central Prison of the Capital Police and taken to a hospital because when he was incarcerated, according to the procedures, he was given a medical examination and the prison doctor asked him if he was suffering from certain ailments.

“The attorney for the Tate brothers notified the central detention center and stated that he had certain medical problems.

“Based on this notification, yesterday he was taken to a specialist consultation in a hospital in the capital.”

The report added that he was later returned to the prison where he was being held.