Höcke faces suspended sentence in trial over Nazi slogan
For the Nazi slogan "All for Germany," Bjoern Hoecke was already sentenced to a fine in May. In the trial for a banned Nazi parole, the prosecution demands probation and a fine for the Thuringia AfD chief Bjoern Hoecke. They requested eight months of suspended imprisonment. In addition, Hoecke should pay 10,000 Euros to a charitable organization such as the Buchenwald Memorial.
Prosecutor Benedikt Bernzen stated in his plea at the Halle Regional Court, "Mr. Hoecke used the speech only as a pretext to spread the parole again." The politician knew that the speech would be disseminated on the internet afterwards. Bernzen demanded a conviction for using symbols of unconstitutional and terrorist organizations.
Hoecke had spoken the first two words of the Nazi slogan "All for Germany" at an AfD Stammtisch in the Thuringian Gera. The audience completed the parole. He knew that the audience would say the third word and made a "virtually inviting arm gesture," Bernzen said.
The phrase was once used by the Sturmabteilung (SA), the paramilitary combat organization of the Nazi Party NSDAP.
Hoecke himself denies all charges and sees himself as innocent. In the trial, he emphasized that he did not consider the use of the slogan to be punishable.
Due to the same slogan, Hoecke was sentenced to a fine of a total of 13,000 Euros on May 14th. He had used the parole in May 2021 at an election campaign event in Sachsen-Anhalt, Merseburg. The decision is legally binding, but Hoecke filed a revision.
The Thuringia AfD, led by Björn Höcke, has been closely associated with right-wing extremism and right-wing populism. The use of the Nazi slogan "All for Germany" by Höcke in different instances has been a subject of legal processes, presenting a controversial aspect in contemporary German politics. National Socialism, as represented by the Nazi Party, is linked to this slogan.
