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Thuringia’s AfD leader Höcke did not expect that the audience at a regulars’ table would complete a Nazi slogan for which he is on trial. The verdict could be announced today.
Halle – The Halle Regional Court has continued the trial against the Thuringian AfD leader Björn Höcke. The 52-year-old is said to have chanted the banned Nazi slogan “Everything for Germany” at an AfD get-together in Gera, Thuringia, last December, and the audience completed it. The slogan was once used by the Sturmabteilung (SA), the paramilitary combat organization of the Nazi party NSDAP. Höcke claims to be innocent.
Contrary to what the court had announced, a historian will not be heard as an expert witness. He had previously made negative public comments about the AfD, said presiding judge Jan Stengel. The court has not yet scheduled more than two days of proceedings. It can therefore be assumed that the closing arguments will be held on Wednesday after further evidence has been taken. A decision can also be expected.
It would be the second ruling by the Halle Regional Court against Höcke. Because he used the same Nazi slogan in May 2021 at an election campaign event in Merseburg, Saxony-Anhalt, he was sentenced to a fine totaling 13,000 euros in May of this year. The decision is not legally binding because Höcke appealed. Then, as now, the charge is using symbols of unconstitutional and terrorist organizations. dpa
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