extremism
Höcke should be given the opportunity to testify
Björn Höcke is said to have knowingly used an SA slogan, “Everything for Germany,” in a speech. photo
© Jens Schlueter/AFP/dpa
Björn Höcke is said to have used an SA slogan and is therefore on trial in Halle. On the second day of the trial he will now have the chance to comment on the allegations.
In the trial against the AfD politician Björn Höcke began the second day of the main trial before the regional court in Halle.
The 52-year-old should be given the opportunity to comment on the allegations against him, as the presiding judge announced on the first day of the trial. One of the AfD politician’s defense lawyers explained that his client would speak out and also answer questions from the public prosecutor’s office. The public prosecutor’s office accuses Höcke of knowingly using an SA slogan in a speech in May 2021. The penalty in such cases ranges from a fine to a prison sentence of three years.
“No, I didn’t know”
In a television duel, Höcke had already commented on the allegations and defended his choice of words. He used the slogan “Everything for Germany” in a free campaign speech and ultimately translated Donald Trump’s “America First” slogan into German in a freely interpreting way, he said on the Welt channel. When asked whether he didn’t know during the speech that the saying was an SA slogan, he said: “No, I didn’t know.”
Höcke wants to run as his party’s top candidate in the state elections in Thuringia on September 1st. The AfD is classified and monitored by the state Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Thuringia as definitely right-wing extremist.
On the first day of the hearing, the proceedings were delayed enormously – also because Höcke’s lawyers had submitted several applications and complaints. A total of four dates are currently planned for the trial in Halle until mid-May.