(11 Jan 2023)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Bucharest - 11 January 2023
1. Various of court
2. SOUNDBITE (Romanian) Eugen Vidineac, lawyer for the Tate brothers:
“(They had ) the reaction every man would have when he'd hope for a a release and for judicial success. The news was received not well at all but this doesn't stop the fighting to find the truth. On the other hand, they didn't show up today not to avoid seeing the judges but because it was a procedure that didn't involve taking statements from them or their presence. Hence, to facilitate the procedure both for them and for us, a decision was taken for them not to come.”
4. Vidineac leaving
STORYLINE:
A court in Romania’s capital Bucharest has rejected an appeal by the divisive social media personality Andrew Tate against asset seizures by prosecutors who are investigating him on charges of being part of an organized crime group and human trafficking, an official said Wednesday.

A lawyer for the Tate brothers say they didn't receive the news well.

Tate, 36, a British-U.S. citizen who has 4.5 million followers on Twitter, was detained on December 29 in Bucharest along with his brother Tristan and two Romanian women.

On Tuesday, a court upheld a judge’s December 30 move to extend their arrest from 24 hours to 30 days.

In a separate hearing Wednesday at the Bucharest Tribunal, Tate lost an appeal that challenged assets seized by prosecutors, including properties and a fleet of luxury cars, said a spokesperson for Romanian anti-organized crime agency DIICOT.

Prosecutors investigating the case have so far seized 15 luxury cars — 11 in December raids and four last week — at least seven of which are owned by the Tate brothers, and more than 10 properties and land owned by companies registered to them.

The DIICOT spokesperson said is not clear whether any assets seized since December were included in Wednesday's appeal.

If prosecutors can prove the Tates gained money through human trafficking, the spokesperson said that the assets could be used to cover the expenses of the investigation and compensation for victims.

Tate, a former professional kickboxer who has reportedly lived in Romania since 2017, was previously banned from various prominent social media platforms for expressing misogynistic views and hate speech.

AP Video shot by Nicolae Dumitrache

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