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WHD News Flash top headlines for December 31
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A Romanian court late on Friday extended the detention of former kickboxer Andrew Tate for 30 days after he was arrested on suspicion of human trafficking, rape and forming an organized crime group, Reuters first confirmed.
Tate was arrested Thursday along with his brother Tristan and two other suspects after Romanian authorities raided their Bucharest properties and held them for 24 hours.
Prosecutors then petitioned the court to extend their detention.
In this grab taken from video released by Observator Antena 1, Social Media personality Andrew Tate is led away by police, in the Ilfov area, north of Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022. (Observator Antena 1 via WHD)
THUNBERG SWIPES AT ANDREW TATE AMID HUMAN TRAFFICKING CHARGES IN TWITTER SPAT
Tate's lawyer, Eugen Constantin Vidineac, reportedly responded to the court’s decision and told reporters: "From our perspective, there are no grounds...for taking this most drastic preventive measure, but it is the judge's prerogative."
Tate and his three alleged partners had reportedly been under a criminal investigation since April after they were suspected of being involved in a human trafficking scheme in which at least six women were sexually exploited.
"The four suspects...appear to have created an organized crime group with the purpose of recruiting, housing and exploiting women by forcing them to create pornographic content meant to be seen on specialized websites for a cost," prosecutors said. "They would have gained important sums of money."
Reports on Friday suggested that Tate’s renewed social media presence on Twitter may have led to his own arrest.
Eugen Constantin Vidineac, lawyer, delivers a short press statement after defending Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate in court, in Bucharest, Romania, Dec. 30, 2022. (Inquam Photos/Cosmin Enache via REUTERS )
ANDREW TATE DETAINED IN ROMANIA ON SUSPICION OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING: REPORTS
The former kickboxer and controversial internet personality had been banned from Twitter for posting misogynistic and hateful comments before he was reinstated by billionaire Elon Musk last month.
Tate sparked a Twitter spat with climate activist Greta Thunberg by posting a picture of himself filling up his Bugatti before then asking for her email address so he could "send a complete list of [his] car collection and their respective enormous emissions."
Thunberg responded and said, "Yes, please do enlighten me. email me at smalld---energy@getalife.com."
The activist’s response then prompted Tate to appear in a video on his Twitter wearing a red robe, smoking a cigar and receiving a pizza order before he proceeded to berate Thunberg.
Tate also told the unseen person who handed him the pizza to make sure the "boxes [were] not recycled."
But according to some reports, the "Jerry’s Pizza" boxes alerted Romanian authorities to the fact that he was in the country.
Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate are escorted by police officers outside the headquarters of the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism in Bucharest (DIICOT) after being detained for 24 hours, in Bucharest, Romania, Dec. 29, 2022. (Reuters)
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WHD News Digital could not independently verify that Tate’s pizza delivery led to his subsequent arrest.
Thunberg took to Twitter early Friday to say, "this is what happens when you don’t recycle your pizza boxes."