AfD
Höcke trial: All defense lawyers have appealed
AfD politician Björn Höcke was sentenced to a fine in Halle. All of his lawyers and defense attorneys have appealed against the verdict. photo
© Ronny Hartmann/AFP Pool/dpa
Last week, the Halle Regional Court sentenced AfD politician Björn Höcke to a fine. His lawyers have appealed. The Federal Court of Justice must now decide.
After the conviction of Björn Höcke in the regional court in Halle, all three defense lawyers AfD politician appealed. In addition to the other defense lawyers, lawyer Ralf Hornemann also filed an appeal, he explained when asked by the German Press Agency. Höcke was sentenced to a fine by the court because he knowingly used a banned slogan of the SA (Sturmabteilung) of the NSDAP in a speech.
Höcke’s other two lawyers, Ulrich Vosgerau and Philip Müller, had already filed an appeal last week, according to their own statements and according to the court. The verdict against the 52-year-old Thuringian AfD leader will not initially become legally binding if an appeal is lodged. Höcke had rejected the allegations against him in court until the very end. The regional court had sentenced him to 100 daily rates of 130 euros each.
The public prosecutor’s office had also announced that it wanted to examine possible legal remedies. It was initially unclear whether it had filed an appeal. In its closing statement, the public prosecutor’s office had called for a suspended sentence of six months and a fine of 10,000 euros for Höcke. The verdict was passed last Tuesday (May 14). An appeal had to be filed within a week of the verdict being announced.
With the filing of an appeal, the case now goes to the Federal Court of Justice. This checks the verdict for violations of the law – so no evidence is collected again.