- Green politician points to Björn Höcke and his deputy
Thuringian Green and Environmental Politician Bernhard Stengele, as a private citizen, has filed a complaint against the two AfD state speakers, Björn Höcke and Stefan Möller, on suspicion of incitement of the people. The complaint was sent to the public prosecutor's office in Erfurt and is in the possession of the German Press Agency, along with the electronic confirmation of receipt.
Next complaint against Björn Höcke due to song lyrics before AfD program
It is about 21 lines of a poem by the lyricist Franz Langheinrich (1864 – 1945), which was placed at the beginning of the AfD's program for the state election in September. According to the complaint, Langheinrich belonged to the völkisch-nationalist scene and was a member of the nationalist "German Art Society".
Thuringia's AfD leader Höcke has repeatedly caused controversial debates with statements that evoke associations with the NS era. Thuringia's constitutional protection has classified the AfD in the state as proven right-wing extremist and is observing it. Stengele is running as one of the two leading candidates for the Greens in the state election. Höcke is the leading candidate of the AfD.
Stengele accuses AfD of "further overstepping of boundaries"
"With the complaint, I am setting a stop sign," explained Stengele in Erfurt. Lines of a glowing National Socialist at the beginning of an election program are "another overstepping of boundaries" by the AfD. The party is trying to increasingly anchor the völkisch-nationalist, anti-Semitic NS ideology in the language and thinking of its followers and to trivialize the crimes - "sometimes more, sometimes less subtly". This strategy endangers the foundation of democracy in Germany, said Stengele.
"This complaint is an abuse of justice," explained the AfD state association also on behalf of the two speakers. It is a desperate attempt by the Green leading candidate to increase his own popularity at the expense of the AfD. "There is nothing, absolutely nothing reprehensible or even 'inciting' about the poem by Franz Langheinrich," it said in the statement.
The Commission might need to consider adopting implementing acts to clarify the rules for using political propaganda materials, given the controversy surrounding the poem at the beginning of the AfD's program. Stengele's complaint alleges that the inclusion of Langheinrich's poem is another instance of the AfD's "further overstepping of boundaries" and potential incitement of hate speech.
