Controversial British influencer Andrew Tate appeared in a Bucharest court on Friday for aggravated pimping, a few days after a very lively and extensively commented exchange between this former kickboxer and environmentalist Greta Thunberg on Twitter.

• Read also: Influencer Andrew Tate arrested over sex trafficking allegations

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Andrew and his brother Tristan Tate were taken into custody "for 24 hours", a spokeswoman for the DIICOT anti-mafia prosecution, Ramona Bolla, told AFP.

The court, whose hearing began at 2:00 p.m. (12:00 GMT), must rule on a possible pre-trial detention of 30 days.

Andrew Tate had a heated exchange this week, which went viral, with Greta Thunberg on social networks, in which he congratulated himself on emitting a lot of greenhouse gases with his collection of big cars.

At the news of her arrest, the Swedish activist tweeted ironically on Friday morning: “this is what happens when you don't recycle your pizza wrappers”.

This post, “liked” at this point 1.6 million times, has helped fuel speculation that Tate has been “located” by Romanian authorities thanks to the pizza wrapper visible in a video response that he had sent her on Wednesday.

Romanian prosecutors, however, denied this. "It's not related," reacted Ms. Bolla.

“To determine whether a person is in the country or not, we use a whole range of means”, she added, specifying that “arrest warrants and searches” were already ready.

For her part, a spokesperson for Greta Thunberg confirmed to AFP that her tweet was “a joke” and that “the Romanian authorities had not contacted her”.

Recent return to Twitter

The prosecution has been investigating since early 2021 and had already searched a villa of Andrew Tate last April.

According to a statement, the British influencer and his brother are suspected of “organized crime”, “rape” and “human trafficking” in Romania, Great Britain and the United States.

Six potential victims have been identified at this stage. Duped by the two men who feigned feelings for them and then sequestered them, they were allegedly forced by violence into prostitution and the production of pornographic films.

The prosecutor's office released images of the searches, on which we can see firearms, wads of cash and sports cars seized in different places in Romania.

According to the Romanian press, two women, including an American citizen, had been freed in the spring by the police from the property of the Tate brothers.

Both men moved to Romania a few years ago.

Andrew Tate, who also has American nationality, appeared on the television show Big Brother in 2016. He was eliminated from the competition after a video showed him hitting a woman.

He then turned to social networks where he promoted masculinist theses. His accounts had all been suspended for misogynistic comments.

In particular, he felt that women victims of sexual abuse should be held responsible.

In the wake of the takeover of Twitter by Elon Musk, his account domiciled in Dubai had however been reactivated on the social network. He is followed by 3.6 million people.

On his website, he presents himself with a shaved head and a well-trimmed beard wearing aviator glasses.

Smoking big cigars and bulging muscles, he claims to be a multimillionaire and coins his advice to men to help them become rich.