extremism
Trial because of SA slogans: Höcke wants to comment on the allegations
Björn Höcke is said to have knowingly used an SA slogan, “Everything for Germany,” in a speech. photo
© Jens Schlueter/AFP/dpa
In the trial against Björn Höcke, the first witness was heard on the second day of the trial. After his questioning, the AfD politician also wants to comment himself.
In the trial against the AfD politician Björn Höcke is the first witness to be questioned about a banned Nazi saying. The man is a police officer from Halle who made the complaint against Höcke that was the starting point for the trial.
The Green Party politician Sebastian Striegel filed the complaint after Höcke gave a speech in Merseburg, Saxony-Anhalt, in May 2021. The public prosecutor’s office accuses the 52-year-old of knowingly using a slogan of the NSDAP’s Sturmabteilung (SA).
Höcke has been standing before the district court in Halle since last Thursday on charges of using the license plates of unconstitutional and terrorist organizations. In his speech he said: “Everything for our homeland, everything for Saxony-Anhalt, everything for Germany.” In his complaint, Striegel had referred to a report by the Bundestag’s scientific service, according to which using the phrase “Everything for Germany” in a speech at a meeting is punishable.
Höcke wants to express himself
Höcke’s defense announced that the AfD politician also wanted to comment on the allegations himself. Shortly before the trial opened, Höcke defended his choice of words on the Welt television station and denied knowing that it was a banned Nazi saying.
The 52-year-old is AfD leader in Thuringia. On September 1st, he wants to run as his party’s top candidate in the state elections there. The AfD is classified and monitored by the state Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Thuringia as definitely right-wing extremist. Dates are still planned for the trial against Höcke until mid-May. It is the presumption of innocence.