Bucharest - (AFP) - Romanian prosecutors on Wednesday questioned controversial social media star Andrew Tait in a case centered on human trafficking and rape, while the British-American citizen denounced the case as invalid.

After the end of the hearing with the Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Terrorism in Romania, Tait said in a statement to the attending journalists, "There is no evidence in my file because I did nothing wrong, and everyone knows that I am innocent."

"The regime is trying to implicate me, but God knows the truth," he added.

The former kickboxer, his younger brother and two Romanian women are under investigation over allegations of their involvement in "creating an organized criminal group, human trafficking and rape".
They face accusations of forcing women into "forced labour... and indulging in pornography" with the aim of achieving "significant financial benefits".
The four persons were arrested at the end of December.

Tate, 36, and his brother Tristan, 34, have denied all charges against them.

The two brothers pleaded not guilty Wednesday, while Tristan considered that the prosecutors of the Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Terrorism "have no evidence" against him.

Last week, a Bucharest court issued a decision to extend their detention until February 27, but the two brothers appealed the decision.

They could be held for a maximum of 180 days, pending the issuance of a possible indictment.

"They want the truth to emerge quickly," said their defense attorney, Eugene Vedenik, stressing that they "provided detailed statements and showed cooperation in the investigation."

Tate had indicated, through his Twitter account, which has 4.8 million followers, that there was a "political process aimed at weakening" his influence and a desire to "unjustly imprison" him, which were used to "silence influential people," referring to himself.

He also denounced the poor conditions of his detention, pointing out on Twitter that he had "no friends" at night except cockroaches, lice and bugs.

Prosecutors state that the human trafficking network established by the suspects has been operating since 2019 and has recruited "a large number of victims, including minors... with the aim of sexually exploiting them."

And in 2016, Tate appeared on the "Big Brother" reality TV program in Britain, but he was excluded from it after a video clip appeared in which he attacked a woman.

Then he resorted to communication sites to express his controversial views, before he was banned from it after his anti-women and hateful statements.

He was allowed to use his Twitter account again after Elon Musk acquired the social platform.