Germany AfD politician Höcke fined for Nazi slogan
A court in the eastern German city of Halle has once again sentenced the Thuringian AfD state leader Björn Höcke for using a banned Nazi slogan. Höcke must pay a fine of 130 daily rates of 130 euros each.
01.07.2024, 14:55
SDA
The 52-year-old was found guilty of using signs of unconstitutional and terrorist organizations. Presiding judge Jan Stengel of the Halle district court said that a prison sentence was not appropriate for the court. However, Höcke's culpability was not in doubt. An appeal against the verdict is possible.
The public prosecutor's office had charged Höcke because he uttered the first two words of the Nazi slogan "Alles für Deutschland" at an AfD regulars' table in Gera, Thuringia, in December 2023. The audience completed the slogan. According to the public prosecutor's office, the politician knew that the audience would say the third word and made an "almost inviting arm movement". The slogan was once used by the Sturmabteilung (SA), the paramilitary fighting organization of the Nazi party NSDAP.
Judge Stengel said that the video of the speech in Gera did not show Höcke's negative attitude, "but rather mimic approval". Höcke had wanted everyone to complete the speech. He had tested the limits of what could be said.
Defense lawyers had demanded acquittal
The representative of the public prosecutor's office, Benedikt Bernzen, demanded an eight-month prison sentence for the accused, which should be suspended on probation. In addition, Höcke was to pay 10,000 euros to a charitable organization such as the Buchenwald Concentration Camp Memorial. The defense lawyers and Höcke himself demanded an acquittal. The politician, who is running as his party's top candidate in the Thuringian state elections on September 1, said: "I am innocent and ask to be acquitted."
Höcke had already been sentenced to a fine totaling 13,000 euros by the Halle district court in May for the same Nazi slogan. He had used the slogan at an election campaign event in Merseburg, Saxony-Anhalt, in May 2021. The decision is not final, as Höcke has appealed.
