AfD politician in court - Public prosecutor demands suspended sentence for Höcke
In the trial for using a prohibited Nazi slogan, the public prosecutor in Thuringia is demanding a probation sentence and a fine of 10,000 Euro for AfD chief Bjoern Hoecke. The prosecutor requested eight months of imprisonment, which is to be suspended. Additionally, Hoecke should pay 10,000 Euro to a charitable organization such as the Buchenwald Memorial.
"Mr. Hoecke used the speech only as a pretext to spread the slogan again," the prosecutor Benedikt Bernzen stated at the Halle Regional Court. The politician knew that the speech would be disseminated on the internet afterwards. Bernzen demanded a conviction for the use of symbols of unconstitutional and terrorist organizations.
At an AfD gathering in the Thuringian Gera, Hoecke had spoken the first two words of the Nazi slogan "Alles für Deutschland," which the audience completed. He knew that the audience would say the third word and made a "quite inviting arm gesture," Bernzen said.
The slogan was once used by the Sturmabteilung (SA), the paramilitary combat organization of the Nazi Party NSDAP.
Hoecke himself denies all allegations and sees himself as innocent. In the trial, he emphasized that he did not consider the use of the slogan to be punishable.
Hoecke was already sentenced to a fine of a total of 13,000 Euro on May 14 for the same slogan. He had used it at an election campaign event in Sachsen-Anhalt, Merseburg. The decision is legally binding, but Hoecke filed a revision.
- The trial for Hoecke's use of the Nazi slogan at the Buchenwald Concentration Camp Memorial in Thuringia is being handled by the public prosecutor's office in that state.
- The prosecutor, Benedikt Bernzen, argued in the Halle Regional Court that Hoecke's speech was a deliberate attempt to spread the prohibited slogan further.
- The case in Thuringia follows an earlier conviction in Saxony-Anhalt, where Hoecke was sentenced to a fine of 13,000 Euro for using the same Nazi slogan during an election campaign event.
- The AfD chief, Björn Höcke, was asked to pay 10,000 Euro to a charitable organization like the Buchenwald Concentration Camp Memorial as part of his sentence, in addition to the suspended eight-month imprisonment and the fine.
- The extremist nature of Hoecke's actions has been a point of contention, with the prosecutor arguing for the use of symbols of unconstitutional and terrorist organizations to be criminalized, as in this case.
- The political party AfD, which Hoecke represents as its chief, has been under scrutiny for its links to extremist ideologies, with the use of Nazi slogans being a recurring concern.
