Andrew Tate, an internet personality who had been held in a Romanian prison on suspicion of organized crime and human trafficking, has been granted an appeal to replace his detention with house arrest.
The Bucharest Court of Appeal made the ruling after Tate challenged a previous decision to extend his arrest for an additional 30 days. Ramona Bolla, a spokesperson for Romania’s anti-organized crime agency, DIICOT, confirmed the ruling on Friday.
Tate, a 36-year-old British-U.S. citizen with 5.5 million Twitter followers, was first detained in Bucharest in December along with his brother Tristan and two Romanian women.
All four individuals, including Andrew Tate, his brother Tristan, and two Romanian women, have won their appeal and will be staying under house arrest until April 29, according to Ramona Bolla, a spokesperson for Romania’s anti-organized crime agency, DIICOT.
As of yet, none of them have been formally charged. The court decided in favor of their immediate release, and prosecutors are unable to contest the final decision made by the appeal court.
After leaving the detention facility in Bucharest on Friday night, Tristan Tate spoke to a group of reporters and stated that he believed the judges made the correct decision.
He expressed his respect for their decision and his confidence in their ultimate vindication, as he believed he was an innocent man and was eager to prove it.
“I respect what they’ve done for me and they will be vindicated in their decision because I’m an innocent man and I can’t wait to prove it,” he said.
Outside of the facility, some supporters of the Tate brothers chanted “Top-G,” a popular nickname among Andrew Tate’s fans.
Later, while standing outside their home near the capital, Andrew Tate expressed his gratitude towards the judges who heard their case. He thanked them for their attentiveness and for listening to their case, which ultimately led to their release.
Andrew Tate, a professional kickboxer who has been living in Romania since 2017, has been banned from multiple social media platforms due to his expressed misogynistic views and hate speech.
He has consistently denied the allegations against him and has accused Romanian prosecutors of having no evidence to support their case. Tate has claimed that the accusations against him are politically motivated and part of a conspiracy to silence him.