Accused sex-trafficking rapist Andrew Tate again declared his innocence as he arrived at court in Romania on Wednesday for his latest bid to get out of jail.
Tate, 36, was arrested in December with his brother Tristan on suspicion of human trafficking, rape and forming an organised crime group to exploit women.
He appeared at the Bucharest court today with Tristan and two of their alleged female accomplices in a bid to appeal against a judge’s decision to extend their arrest a second time for 30 days.
But all four lost their appeal and will be held for the full 30 days, said Ramona Bolla, a spokesperson for Romania’s anti-organised crime agency DIICOT.
‘You know I’m innocent!’ the incendiary influencer shouted at reporters as he was led out of a prison van while handcuffed to his younger brother, Tristan Tate.
The brothers and their two co-accused — the influencer’s rumored girlfriend and a female ex-cop — were in court to fight a second 30-day extension of their detention after being held since an early morning raid on December 29, per Daily Mail.
Asked on his way into the Bucharest Court of Appeal if he expected to be freed Wednesday, Tate, 36, said: ‘There is not much justice in Romania.’
The US-born ex-kickboxer — whose usually shaved head was covered in stubble after more than a month in custody — made similar claims of innocence on his way out of the hearing.
‘Ask them for evidence and they will give you none because it doesn’t exist. You’ll find out the truth of this case soon,’ he said, echoing previous comments.
Romanian prosecutors have accused the Tates of heading a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.
According to New York Post, they claim the pair seduced women and then forced them to produce pornographic content, generating huge income that they regularly showed off on social media.
A judge has yet to decide on Wednesday’s appeal against the decision to hold them for another 30 days, meaning he will remain in custody until February 27.
The judge made the initial decision because of the ‘particular dangerousness of the defendants’ and their capacity to identify victims ‘with an increased vulnerability, in search of better life opportunities.’
Their defense attorneys have asked the judge to consider placing them under house arrest, court documents showed.
Tate also unsuccessfully tried to get back assets worth an estimated $3.9 million seized by authorities from his compound near Bucharest, including luxury cars like a blue Rolls-Royce, a Ferrari and a Porsche.
Since his arrest, Tate has continued posting to his nearly 5 million followers on Twitter, often railing against the injustice of his chosen country of residence while blaming his woes on ‘the Matrix.’
‘In Romania. They can steal your life without a trial. They do not need evidence. In this system, innocent men return to ruined lives,’ he wrote Tuesday — pushing followers to buy coaching sessions from his site to prepare a ‘war plan.’
