Andrew Tate and his brother are grilled by cops at organised crime unit in Romania

Self-described misogynist and former kickboxer Andrew Tate has been pictured arriving for questioning in Romania after he was released from custody last month.

Tate was seen along with his brother Tristan outside offices of the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) in Bucharest today.

Sporting a beard, hoodie and sunglasses, the controversial 36-year-old influencer was pictured as he made his way through a throng of photographers into the office building, where prosecutors have examined electronic equipment confiscated during the investigation into his case. He was later seen leaving the building.

He and his brother were moved to house arrest in Romania on March 29 after being arrested last year. They had been detained since 29 December on suspicion of human trafficking, rape and forming an organised crime group to exploit women.

The brothers and alleged accomplices Georgiana Naghel and Luana Radu will remain under house arrest until April 29 after winning an appeal to leave prison.

They remain under investigation. 

The accused had appealed their detention multiple times over the last four months without success. Tate has maintained his innocence since his release from prison.

On the influencer’s appearance at the DIICOT offices on Monday, a spokesman for the Tate brothers told MailOnline that the interview was a routine part of the investigation.

‘Andrew and Tristan Tate visited DIICOT earlier today as a routine visit to assist authorities with the investigation,’ the spokesman said.

‘There have still been no charges made against the brothers and they are extremely focused on beating these fabricated accusations.’

The influencer’s appearance came after he made a bizarre post on Twitter, telling Elon Musk – the owner of the platform – to ‘escape’ the Matrix.

Responding to an image shared by the billionaire of the 1999 film in which Musk alluded to the insignificance of arguing with strangers on the platform, Tate responded to the world’s second richest man by writing: ‘You must escape.’

Tate often refers to a conspiracy involving the concept of ‘The Matrix’ as a global conspiracy trying to control the world. He frames himself as being someone who will help people break free of this ‘control’.

There is no such evidence such a conspiracy exists.

His grilling at DIICOT also comes after a post last week in which he suggested he will be assassinated as part of this global plot.

‘I prepare my body to absorb the brutal kinetics of piercing lead,’ he wrote, along with a shirtless picture of himself presumed to be inside his Romanian home.

‘As all other silencing attempts fail, and stage 3 approaches – I anticipate a bullet will be the chosen utensil of pacification,’ he wrote. ‘I can only pray and prepare. I will force myself to breathe the best I can. I promise.’

On April 2, the controversial content creator said in an email to his fans he thought he would never be released. ‘If you truly believe you are screwed, the system is against you and you’ll never get out, a strange sense of calm comes over you.’

‘When I accepted I may never get out of prison, I felt BETTER. Isn’t that insane?’

He said that Romanian law enforcement ‘decided when I woke up, when I slept, when I ate, and where I went’. 

In the email, Tate urged his subscribers to realise they were also ‘not free’ and living ‘INSIDE of the Matrix’.

‘In your life, your boss decides when you wake up and when you eat and your bank decides where you go.’

A statement from the brothers after their release read: ‘We are ecstatic to announce the Romanian judicial system approved Andrew’s and Tristan Tate’s appeal against last week’s extension decision. 

‘They will be placed under house arrest while the investigation continues. We are appreciative of the judge and courts for allowing the brothers to return home. 

‘Both brothers are looking forward to being reunited with their families in Romania and want to extend their thanks to all the supporters who have stood by them during this time. 

‘They will continue to fight to clear their name of these fabricated accusations; however, this is a big step in the right direction.’

Tate took to Twitter on 1 April to share a video of him pacing back and forth, smoking, under house arrest.

He wrote: ‘Since last year ive [sic] been in 24 hour lockdown. No yard time.

‘Pacing a 3metre [sic] cell with zero electronics or outside contact.

‘Absolute clarity of mind. Real thoughts. Real plans. Vivid pain.’

Tate was previously banned from the social media site Twitter but reinstated by Musk after the billionaire bought it at the end of last year.

In January, he said he was first allowed to contact fans via email from prison.

He wrote, saying he had been left in a cell without light, with cockroaches and bedbugs his ‘only friends at night’.