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 “24 hours”, 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 — the Tate brothers and two Romanian citizens — 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 “enormous emissions” to pizza boxes, fuelled speculation on social media that the arrests followed Tate’s 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 Tate’s presence in Romania
