Continuing prosecution over Nazi slogan: AfD member disputes allegations against Höcke
The prosecution has charged the head of the Thuringia AfD, who the constitutional protection has flagged as reliably right-wing extremist, with using the slogan "All for Germany" at an AfD gathering in Gera on December 12, allegedly inciting others to finish it. During the hearing, a video of this was presented.
At an estimated AfD "get-together" in a pub in Gera, Hocke shouted "All for" to an audience of around 350 individuals, gesturing to his supporters to add "Germany," noted prosecutor Benedikt Bernzen during the indictment. Hocke was "certainly" aware that it was a proscribed slogan. By doing so, he allegedly committed "the shared use of symbols of a former National Socialist organization."
Previously, there was an ongoing case against Hocke due to a similar occurrence in Sachsen-Anhalt Merseburg. The Landgericht Halle penalized the 52-year-old with a fine of 13,000 Euro in mid-May for using the SA phrase "All for Germany" at an AfD campaign event in Merseburg. The judgment has not yet become binding law. The defense has lodged an appeal against it, which is currently under consideration by the Bundesgerichtshof.
Hocke maintains that his statements have no criminal significance and repeatedly described them as commonplace. "I don't see the criminality in 'All for Germany,'" Hocke stated before the court on Monday. These are "everyday words that were accidentally used by a criminal organization some years ago."
He claimed it was "unexpected" for him that people in the audience would complete the phrase due to his hand gestures. "I didn't go into this with the intention of provoking another trial." Hocke considered himself "completely innocent" and the trial a "farce." He felt "unfairly treated."
In the initial trial, Hocke claimed ignorance about the slogan's origins. On Monday, Hocke repeated, "I'm not an expert on National Socialism."
Before the indictment, Hocke's two lawyers filed numerous motions, including protests against public and media pre-judgment of their client, challenges to the Landgericht Halle's jurisdiction, and demands for the dismissal of the proceedings. The chamber headed by presiding judge Jan Stengel rejected the motions.
The trial in Halle is scheduled for Wednesday. If convicted, Hocke faces a fine or a jail term of up to three years.
Hocke is the state and faction leader of his party in Thuringia and the AfD's leading candidate for the Landtag election on September 1. The AfD has led the polls for months. Hocke aims to bring the party into the government and become Minister-President, but no other party wants to collaborate with the AfD.
If the already-imposed fine becomes legally binding, it would have no legal consequences for Hocke's eligibility or his right to vote.
Read also:
- During the arraignment at the Regional court in Halle on the Saale, the AfD politician Benedikt Bernzen presented evidence against the AfD leader in Thuringia, Björn Höcke.
- The charges against Höcke stem from his use of the NS slogan "All for Germany" at an AfD gathering in Gera on December 12, which allegedly incited others to finish it.
- Previously, Höcke was fined 13,000 Euro by the Landgericht Halle for using the same slogan at an AfD campaign event in Merseburg.
- Höcke's defense argued that the slogan has no criminal significance and that he was unaware of its origins during both trials.
- AfD's leading candidate for the Landtag election on September 1, Höcke aiming to bring his party into the government and become Minister-President, but no other party wants to collaborate with the AfD.
- If convicted, Höcke faces a fine or a jail term of up to three years, but if the already-imposed fine becomes legally binding, it would have no legal consequences for Höcke's eligibility or his right to vote.
- The trial of Höcke, an AfD member and reliably right-wing extremist according to the constitutional protection, will continue on Wednesday.
