Former four-time kickboxing world champion Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan have been released from detention in Romania after a successful appeal against their detention. The brothers were arrested at the end of December last year on suspicion of alleged human trafficking and forming an organized crime group and have been kept behind bars in Bucharest despite multiple appeals.
Although they failed to overturn a decision to deny them bail earlier this week, they were successful in appealing last week's decision to extend their incarceration by another 30 days.
They will now be held under house arrest, along with two Romanian women who were also arrested in relation to the investigation. A spokesperson for Andrew and Tristan Tate told Mirror Fighting: "We are ecstatic to announce the Romanian judicial system approved Andrew's and Tristan Tate's appeal against last week's extension decision." The brothers will continue to fight to clear their name of the accusations, which they claim are fabricated.
Tate's communications director, Mateea Petrescu, said that the judges in the appeal court took the time to understand that they are not a flight risk and they are not a danger to public safety, therefore they have decided to release them under house arrest. Although the Tate's are still under investigation, they will not be in jail anymore, and they will be at home.
Andrew, 36, is a former four-time world kickboxing champion, while Tristan, 34, won titles at European level during a less-decorated career in the ring. But their fame arrived away from the sport when they emerged as huge social media stars last summer, going viral for a string of controversial videos that led concerned viewers to brand them misogynist and dangerous.
The brothers had made five attempts at release prior to Wednesday's hearing. They could have been held in this manner for a maximum of six months in total as part of their 'preventative arrest', despite facing no formal charges at the time of publication. The brothers deny all allegations against them.