Andrew Tate could face another four months inside a cockroach-infested prison after seeing a second appeal against his detention rejected.
Tate, 36, and his brother Tristan, 34, have been held in Romania since December on suspicion of organised crime and human trafficking and will remain locked up until at least February 27. Both men also claim to have assets seized worth over £3million, including a number of their supercars.
Both men deny the allegations and leaving court yesterday, Tate said: "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." And his American lawyer Tina Glandian, who has previously represented singers Chris Brown and Kesha, told Mirror Fighting : "Pre-trial detention is the harshest form of punishment. Terrible things happen to people when they're in custody; people are killed sometimes in custody, it's dangerous and should be the method of last resort.
"It's only if there is no less restrictive alternative available and in this case there certainly are. The government has already seized personal vehicles, money and personal property. They already have a lot of the brothers' belongings and possessions and there are ways with ankle monitors and house arrest you can use to ensure someone doesn't leave. We feel strongly that they should be released.
"Our position is that if the government had any credible evidence, or any evidence at all, [the Tates] would have been charged by now. They searched and seized their belongings back in April and it's been 10 months without charges being filed so I think that alone speaks volumes about what the evidence is. They are desperately trying to gather evidence to keep them in custody until they have something.
"The authorities can continue to extend the detention. Every 30 days they can make a new application up to a six-month period without filing charges. They're going into the second extension so they have four additional times they can do this in theory."
After the Tates were arrested in December, the Romanian authorities said in a statement it had identified six victims in the human trafficking case who were subjected to "acts of physical violence and mental coercion" and were sexually exploited by the members of the alleged crime group.
Tate, who has lived in Romania since 2017, was previously banned from various prominent social media platforms for expressing misogynistic views and hate speech. He was reinstated to Twitter when Elon Musk bought out the company and his account has remained active during his time in prison.
Tate has also sent regular updates to his followers, claiming: "They are trying to break me, [they have] thrown inside a cell without light. Cockroaches, lice, and bed bugs are my only friends at night. When the guards bring me to and from the courtroom, I stay absolutely respectful."
And Ms. Glandian added: "They are suffering in prison and the conditions are everything you've heard about a Romanian jail; they're not sanitary, it's very unpleasant there but they are strong men and are doing their best to hold up in there."