Björn Höcke is on trial because he is said to have used a slogan from the National Socialist combat organization SA. At the start, the Thuringian AfD state leader presents himself as innocent – and tries to systematically delay the trial.
It’s just before noon on this Thursday in Halle. The trial in the regional court has been dragging on from break to break for two and a half hours when public prosecutor Benedikt Bernzen has had enough. Never before, he says with vibrato in his voice, has he been prevented from reading out an indictment. “This is outrageous!” he shouts into the hall. All applications made by the defense were not admissible. Like the countless changes in lawyers and the many complaints, they served the sole purpose of “torpedoing” the main hearing.
One of the three defenders sitting opposite him, a stocky man with a bald head, immediately objects. The public prosecutor is obviously “failed,” says Ulrich Vosgerau. How Bernzen behaved: That was “outrageous” and “unbelievable”. Vosgerau? Exactly, this is the man who recently became more famous because he took part in a meeting with right-wing extremists and AfD politicians in Potsdam. He himself is a CDU member.
And so welcome to the grotesque premiere of “The State vs. Björn Uwe Höcke,” in which the fact that the defendant has a middle name remains the only substantial insight for the time being.
Nevertheless, the process electrifies the public. After all, it’s not just one of the AfD’s most extreme politicians that is being negotiated. The chances of the party with the strongest polls in the east of the republic will also be negotiated in the super election year of 2024. And the question being discussed is what is allowed to be said in Germany almost 80 years after the end of the Third Reich – and what is not.
The Thuringian AfD state chairman is accused of “spreading propaganda from unconstitutional and terrorist organizations.” Section 86 of the Criminal Code provides for a prison sentence of up to three years or a fine if convicted.
The propaganda tool in question is the phrase “Everything for Germany”. It was the central slogan of the SA, the “Sturmabteilung” of the NSDAP, a paramilitary and extremely brutal fighting organization. At the end of his speech at a rally in Merseburg in May 2021, Höcke called out: “Everything for our homeland, everything for Saxony-Anhalt, everything for Germany.” He later claimed that he did not know that these words were used by the National Socialist organization.
The spectacle of Halle
The Halle public prosecutor considers this an excuse – and charged Höcke in May 2023. Apparently out of spite, he repeated the slogan at least in part at an event in Gera six months later. As a video recording shows, he shouted “Everything for…” and gestured at the audience to shout “Germany”. He is also accused of this in Halle, although this case is not being heard for the time being. The court said the reason was that Höcke had once again replaced some of his lawyers at short notice. They have not yet been able to familiarize themselves sufficiently.
But the casserole is big enough as it is. Half a hundred police officers were already spread out at strategic points in front of the justice center – address: Thüringer Straße 16 – early in the morning. More than 500 demonstrators stand in front of the entrance steps and carry posters that say “Höcke is a Nazi” or “Stop the AfD.” Party supporters are nowhere to be seen. Around a dozen television teams have set up cameras, as well as several times as many journalists.
Inside the hall X.0.1, which was filled to capacity. the 5th Large Criminal Chamber is hearing the proceedings with the file number 5KLs 6/23. Jan Stengel, the presiding judge, is an older, jovial man with a gray three-day beard and a sonorous voice. His favorite word is “Jut!”.
Defense complains of “massive prejudice”
In contrast to the public prosecutor’s office, the judge is clearly not willing to be annoyed by Höcke and his, as he puts it, “carousel of defense attorneys.” Rather, he listens patiently as a colleague of Vosgerau reads out a long motion right at the beginning, in which he calls for an audio recording of the “potentially historic trial.” This is necessary to protect his client’s rights because there is “massive prejudice” in the media and there is the possibility of “abuse of power by the judiciary”.
Stengel rejects the request in a friendly tone, whereupon the defense demands a decision from the chamber, which does not change the result, whereupon the defense files an appeal, which the court immediately rejects, whereupon the defense reprimands the judge and also demands the Federal Constitutional Court to call because Höcke had been deprived of the first instance before the district court. In between, Vosgerau demands an adjournment because he has to go to an appointment in the Saxon state parliament.
This goes on without success, but with repeated breaks until shortly after 1 p.m. Finally, public prosecutor Bernzen can finally do what the defense had prevented him from doing for several hours: read out the indictment. It takes him a little over a minute to do this. Höcke, he says, used the “sign of a former National Socialist organization” at the end of the AfD rally in Merseburg: “He knew that it was a forbidden slogan of the Sturmabteilung SA.”
Shortly afterwards, Judge Stengel declares the first of the four days of negotiations scheduled so far to be over. The defendant, who has not provided any information other than to give his personal details, is quickly packing up his things. Under his dark blue suit and light blue shimmering tie, he appears noticeably tense, even if he struggles to smile. Then, shielded by bodyguards, he goes to his black company limousine.
As Höcke drives away, there is a discussion in the corridors of the justice center about what he could face if he is convicted. If the trial ended with a prison sentence of six months or longer, it would at least be possible that the court would also strip him of his right to vote and to stand for election for a period of up to five years. Then the top candidate in Thuringia would have been over.
But the debate seems quite abstract. Even if the court chose this option, Höcke would likely go to the next instance. It is therefore almost impossible that the judgment would become final before the state elections on September 1st.
In general, the state election: Höcke clearly takes the US Republican presidential candidate, who has been accused several times, as a model. Like Donald Trump, he is using the process to victimize political persecution, mobilize voters and collect money. On the social channel Telegram, Höcke shared a message from his AfD state association calling for donations: “Please don’t allow us to be silenced by the abuse of criminal law!”
The hearing will continue in Halle on Tuesday. The defendant is then expected to respond to the allegations. If this happens, then this much is certain: Björn Uwe Höcke will protest his complete innocence.