The Thuringian state parliament’s justice committee has again lifted the immunity of AfD politician Björn Höcke because the Gera public prosecutor’s office wants to investigate him. Several sources in the state parliament confirmed the decision to the German Press Agency. This time, the state and parliamentary group leader is facing legal action because he is said to have used a banned Nazi slogan at a meeting in December.
Immunity typically protects MPs from prosecution. If a public prosecutor wants to investigate her, the Justice Committee must approve the investigation. Höcke himself wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday that it was the eighth time that his immunity had been lifted.
Because Höcke is said to have used the slogan of the Sturmabteilung (SA), the NSDAP’s paramilitary fighting organization, in a speech in Merseburg in Saxony-Anhalt at the end of May 2021, the Halle public prosecutor’s office had already brought charges. Immunity was also lifted for these investigations at that time. Höcke will have to answer in this case before the regional court in Halle from mid-April on the charge of using the symbols of unconstitutional and terrorist organizations. The investigation into the December incident in Gera should now be handed over to the Halle public prosecutor’s office and linked to the existing proceedings.
An indictment was also admitted against Höcke at the regional court in Mühlhausen (Thuringia) on charges of incitement to hatred. The background is a post by the former history teacher on Telegram. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Thuringia classifies Höcke, the AfD’s top candidate in the state election, as a right-wing extremist.