AfD politician Höcke fined again for NS slogan
According to the verdict, he expressed the forbidden slogan of the Nazi SA "All for Germany" or encouraged his audience to do so at an AfD event in Gera, Thuringia, in December. In a similar case, the Regional Court of Halle had sentenced the 52-year-old to a fine of 13,000 Euro in May because he had said the same SA-slogan at an AfD election campaign event in Merseburg. The judgment is not legally binding.
The prosecution demanded a suspended sentence of eight months' imprisonment for Hocke in their plea before the verdict on Monday. His defense attorney also spoke in favor of disqualifying the politician from holding public offices for a period of two years. However, Hocke's defense called for an acquittal in their closing statement.
Hocke is the state and faction leader of the AfD in Thuringia and is running as the party's top candidate in the state election on September 1st. The Thuringian Constitutional Protection Agency classifies the state branch as reliably extremist in its federal state. In the surveys for the state election, the AfD has been in the lead for months, but its lead has recently shrunk slightly.
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- Björn Höcke, an AfD politician and the state leader of the AfD in Thuringia, is the party's top candidate in the upcoming state election on September 1st.
- Despite being classified as reliably extremist by the Thuringian Constitutional Protection Agency, the AfD, led by Höcke, has been leading in the surveys for the state election for several months.
- In a similar case, Höcke, the AfD politician, was fined 13,000 Euro by the Regional Court of Halle in May for expressing the Nazi SA's forbidden slogan "All for Germany" at an AfD event in Merseburg.
- During the recent verdict, Höcke's defense called for his acquittal, opposing the prosecution's demand for a suspended sentence of eight months' imprisonment and the defense attorney's suggestion to disqualify Höcke from public offices for two years.
